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2012 Seat Exeo is Audi with the old, in with the new-ish

We know what you're thinking: This car looks an awful lot like an Audi A4. But it isn't. And it is.
Regular readers may be aware that Audi's Spanish sister-company Seat inherited the previous-generation A4 some time after it was replaced. They put some new badges on it and presto! A new flagship model for Seat.
Called the Exeo, it has now undergone a minor facelift that did nothing if not make it look even more like an Audi, if that were possible, and we got up close and personal with the new model here in Frankfurt. Check it out in our high-res gallery of live images from the show floor.

For Audi, Quattro name means something for hydrogen cars, too

Forget Dueling Banjos. Audi is proposing "Dueling Motors" for its Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro concept vehicle. All in the name of appropriate pickup, of course. The German automaker, which showed off the concept sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month, is pairing a plug-in electric motor with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. Each motor powers two wheels, maintaining the Quattro's all-wheel-drive pedigree. The car's 8.8-kWh lithium-ion battery can drive the car as far as 31 miles on battery-power alone. After that, the water-vapor-spewing fuel-cell engine kicks in. Audi executive Ulrich Hackenberg told Automotive News Europe that the unusual set-up is necessary because the hydrogen fuel cell powertrain alone would only power two wheels while providing an insufficient 136 horsepower. Not exactly sport-sedan material, especially for a car that weighs about 4,300 pounds, even if it is a zero-emission ride. Combined, the two engines give the sedan 231 horsepower as well as a combined single-charge/full-tank range of almost 350 miles. What it all means is that the A7 can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than eight seconds and has a top speed of about 112 miles per hour, and can still dash through the snow.

Audi S5 spied

We only recently saw the next-gen Audi A5 testing for the first time with its sleeker design covered in camouflage. Now, here's a well-concealed glimpse at of the higher-performance S5 for comparison against the standard coupe. With so much swirling camouflage picking out the differences between the two models isn't easy, but there are a few tweaks to notice. The intakes on the front fascia are just a little bigger, hinting at the increase in power. The brakes also appear to be larger, especially when comparing them at the rear. Of course, the most obvious changes are the dual exhausts poking out each corner of the speculative S5. While more power is assured for the S5 over the A5, the exact powerplant isn't officially known yet. Rumors suggest Audi using a tuned version of the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 making between 340 horsepower and 350 hp, at least for the S4. The switch to the MLB Evo platform means less weight to haul around no matter what's under the hood, though. The next-gen A4 should provide some more hints about the future of the lineup when it launches at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, and the coupes are expected to join the lineup later.