2003 Audi A6 Quattro Avant Wagon **rare** on 2040-cars

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Toyota, Lexus dominate KBB's Best Resale Value Awards

Toyota and Lexus stormed the 2014 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value Awards, winning a combined 18 categories including best brand and best luxury brand. This marks the third year in a row that both automakers have won the Brand and Luxury Brand resale value awards. In all, Toyota won 11 categories and Lexus won seven.
Honda made a good showing, as well, winning two segments (Accord Plug-In Hybrid and Civic Si) and putting one car on the top-10 Best Resale Value list (CR-V). Chevrolet did even better, winning two segments (with the V6 Camaro and the Corvette) and placing three cars on the top-10-overall list (again, the Camaro and Corvette, plus the Silverado 1500).
The other winners came from Jeep, Dodge, Infiniti, Subaru and Audi. To give you a clearer picture of the Toyota and Lexus domination, their 18 mentions represents more than half of the 34 awards (including the top-10-overall list).

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

Audi to use this telepresence robot to fix cars

Next time you take your Audi in for service, watch to see if a little white stand is following your mechanic around. It's not some new measurement tool for your car; it's a actually a robot being controlled remotely to improve vehicle service. While bots playing a role in building cars is nothing new, the company is taking things a step further in the US by introducing Audi Robotic Telepresence to assist dealer technicians in repairing the brand's vehicles. The droids are already being used in a pilot program at about 18 dealers nationwide with plans to have it at 100 in the near future.
At the moment, ART, as its called, is more R2-D2 than The Terminator. It certainly won't be doing any wrenching on your A4 anytime soon because it doesn't even have arms. Instead, the robot comprises a remote-controlled stand with multiple cameras, a microphone and speakers. The bot is operated remotely by Audi Technical Assistance consultants and Technical Field Managers who can talk back-and-forth with mechanics about vehicle service and help to remotely diagnose problems. The droid is even equipped with a handheld camera and borescope to reach into tiny crevices.
Audi claims that ART is the first system of its kind to directly link automakers with technicians at the dealer level in this way and leads to faster, more accurate service for customers. Scroll down to watch a video of the bot in action and read the release for the current list of participating dealers.