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Audi's Quattro division is now Audi Sport, and it has 8 new models on the way

Audi announced today that its Quattro GmbH performance and technology division will officially be renamed Audi Sport GmbH. The name change is the first since the division's introduction in 1983, and it should more clearly describe its function within the company and remove confusion with the Quattro all-wheel-drive system offered on all Audis, sporty or not. With its new name, Audi Sport will continue to handle the brand's RS models, the R8, customer race cars, customized road cars, and Audi Sport lifestyle products. While the clearer new name is good news, we're more interested in the division's announcement that it will release eight new cars in the next 18 months. The company didn't reveal exactly which cars these will be, but it did clarify which cars Audi Sport is currently responsible for. These include all variants of the RS 3, RS Q3 crossover, RS 6, RS 7, TT RS, R8, and S8 plus. Since the A4/S4 and A5/S5 models were just redone, we can guess that they will be next on the list for RS-ification, resulting in new RS 4 and RS 5 models. If that includes Sportback, coupe, and cabrio versions of the RS 5, and an RS 4 sedan and Avant, that would put us up to five already. Both the A6 and A7 have only seen a minor refresh recently, so it's likely that we'll see new versions of each soon followed by their own RS variants. However, whether those fit in the 18-month window will depend on how soon we see the standard models. Our other guesses are a bit fuzzier, and based completely on speculation. We could imagine one or two ultra-high-performance R8 models being announced – something like the last-gen R8 GT, perhaps offered in coupe and spyder forms – as well as RS versions of the other members in Audi's crossover fleet, the Q5 and Q7. It's also possible one of the models could be a new customer race car, since Audi Sport currently builds and sells the R8 LMS race car. At the very least, we know the Audi Sport folks are busy and people will no longer get them confused with an all-wheel-drive system. Related Video:

Mystery shoppers love Infiniti, hate Tesla

Infiniti, followed by Lexus tied with Mercedes-Benz took the top two spots for best sales experience according to mystery shoppers from the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, while EV manufacturer Tesla recorded the lowest overall score. Not surprisingly, premium brands dominated the top ranks. Including the three already mentioned, luxury brands occupied seven of the top ten spots and included Audi, BMW, Porsche, and the only American brand to crack the upper echelon, Cadillac. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan rounded out the first ten positions. The news for domestic automakers isn't good. Aside from Caddy, the only other star-spangled automaker to score above the industry average is Chrysler. The rest of FCA, most of GM, and all of Ford fell below the line. But Pied Piper's mystery shoppers handed Tesla the biggest walloping – the company is ten full points below the next lowest brand, Volvo, and its score of 86 is 17 below the average of 103. It's baffling, considering the company's touted direct-sales model. "Tesla leaves me scratching my head," Fred O'Hagan, Pied Piper's president and CEO, told Wards Auto. "They own all of their stores, so you would think each one would be doing the same thing. But they're not. Tesla is consistent in its inconsistencies." O'Hagan added that there's a "huge variation" in Tesla's store-to-store effectiveness, and that in some cases, shoppers found showroom workers that acted more like "museum curators," Wards Auto reports. It might be popular to call Tesla the Apple of the car world, but based on Pied Piper's work, the brand has a long way to go to emulate the uniform shopping experience of an Apple Store. The news might be bad for Tesla, but even for the brands that scored below average, there's cause for celebration. Only Tesla and Mini lost points in this year's rankings, and only Mercedes and Lincoln held steady. Every other brand, including Infiniti, which topped the index for the first time, gained at least one point. The biggest improvements belong to Porsche, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi, which all jumped five points. Pied Piper's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index uses mystery shoppers – over 6,100 this year – from across the country to assess dealers and generate rankings from over 50 individual factors. News Source: Pied Piper via WardsAuto Green Audi BMW Cadillac Chrysler Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers study

Audi S3 Cabriolet spotted in the world for the first time

Spy photographers have finally managed to lay a lens on the upcoming Audi S3 Cabriolet. The new convertible stepped out into the light of day for a little winter testing, and from the looks of things, the model will borrow plenty of design cues from the larger A5. Not that we're complaining. Word has it the S3 will put around 300 horsepower to the pavement via a quattro all-wheel drive system. We've also heard the machine will boast a dual-clutch transmission once it bows.
We've long been fans of the S3 Sportback, and the S5 holds a special place in our hearts as well. A smaller, lighter version of the big cabriolet with all of the aggressive proportions of its larger brother should prove to be a welcome addition to the Audi stable. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available, and be sure to check out the full gallery for a closer look.