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Audi Traffic Light Assist helps you hit every green light

Before taking a ride in Audi's impressive Piloted Driving A7, we took a short spin up and down the Las Vegas strip to check out a smaller, but intriguing piece of Audi driver assistance technology called Traffic Light Assist that promises to help drivers make every green light.
Using both live and predictive data beamed into the vehicle's navigation unit via onboard wifi, TLA doesn't need a single camera to tell you when the light is going to change. Local data sources provide information about traffic light patters, and the in car system uses that data and the motion of the car to predict exactly how long it'll be until the green light goes red.
In practice, the system shows a traffic light icon in the central display (a head-up display would be a nice option), along with a countdown timer that reads the number of seconds before a light changes from red to green. Additionally, the system corrects (nearly instantly in our demo) for changing lanes and resultant changing signals; changing a straight-through traffic lane to a left-turn lane and signal, for instance.

Giorgetto Giugiaro sells shares in legendary styling house to Audi

Giorgetto Giugiaro undoubtedly stands among the great automotive designers of the 20th century, having penned the original Volkswagen Golf and Delorean DMC-12, among countless others. However, the great stylist is now longer an employee or even an owner of the company that bears his name. According to Automotive News, Giugiaro and his son, Fabrizio, sold their remaining 9.9 percent of Italdesign Giugiaro to Audi on Sunday, June 28, and the two resigned from the business the following day. The news about this just came out, though. The exact reason that the two men left the company hasn't been made entirely clear. According to Automotive News, a statement said that Giorgetto Giugiaro went "to dedicate more time to his personal interests." Italdesign Giugiaro remains open and intends to keep growing, though, the same announcement asserts. After stints at Bertone and Ghia, Giugiaro founded Italdesign in 1968. He created some masterpieces there, including '70s wedges like Maserati Merak, Lotus Esprit, and much more. The 2000s weren't so kind and 90.1 percent of the company was sold to Volkswagen Group in 2010. Former Audi design boss Wolfgang Egger took over styling duties there in late 2013, but he only lasted for about a year, leaving in late 2014. Since the sale, Italdesign has continued to work, including with the Gea concept at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and the very mean-looking Parcour in 2013. Giugiaro's designs are still highly prized, as well. On September 5, Bonhams is auctioning the Maserati Boomerang concept by him and expects to get around $4 million for it. The gallery above offers a few more examples of his and Italdesign's concepts for VW Group over the years.

New Audi design chief Massimo Frascella shaped cars for Jaguar Land Rover

At the Audi brand, style and design have long been a high priority; think the super sleek and sexy A7 sedan, the Bauhaus-inspired TT coupe, the single-frame grille that instantly identified the marque with its down-the-road graphics. So when the Bavarians install a new head of design, that’s also worth a look. Massimo Frascella is that person, a 52-year-old Italian designer who this summer will succeed Marc Lichte. Lichte ran Audi design since 2014 and will take up a new role within the Volkswagen Group. Frascella, a student at the Istituto d`Arte Applicata & Design in Turin, ignited his career at Stile Bertone, and his resume after that evolves impressively. He subsequently held positions at Ford Motor Company and Kia, and since 2011, Frascella has held senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover. He was responsible for the creation of several models: Discovery Vision Concept (2014), Discovery Sport (2014), Discovery (2016), Velar (2017), Evoque (2019) and Defender. In 2019 he became creative director of Land Rover and in 2020 design director. He was also instrumental in the development of the range of new electric Jaguars that are in the works. “Joining Audi is a very special moment for me,” Frascella said. “I am deeply honored to assume the role of chief creative officer and to guide such a talented team in shaping the future of the brand to new heights of innovation and distinction. I believe in the emotional power of design to inspire, connect, and drive change, and I am here to nurture and promote creativity as the beating heart of our brand.” Looking back a couple of decades, it was one of FrascellaÂ’s predecessors who helped to cement AudiÂ’s reputation in automobile design: Walter de Silva. De Silva was appointed head of Audi design in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he supervised the design strategy for the entire Volkswagen group, including the TT, the Scirocco, the Passat and the Golf. Not a bad list of achievements, but in a interview several years ago, de Silva said that he considered the 2007 Audi A5 coupe the pinnacle of his automotive design art, citing its “sex appeal, the shape of the lights, the architecture.” Design/Style Audi Jaguar Land Rover Volkswagen Automotive History