2011 Audi 5.2l on 2040-cars

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Looking for meaning in Audi killing off its $1m electric supercar

Audi's most ambitious - well, most expensive, anyway – electric vehicle is no more. After building fewer than 100 of them (perhaps a lot fewer), Audi has cancelled the R8 E-Tron. Maybe it was the million-dollar-plus price tag. Maybe it was the " supreme hand-built quality." Maybe it was the fact that a non-electric R8 could be had for $164,150. Whatever the reason, was killing the R8 E-Tron a good idea? The R8 E-Tron would have been a good halo vehicle for the brand Here's the case for this being a shortsighted move. As we all know, the VW Group – and Audi especially – is in the middle of an electrification kick, and the R8 E-Tron would have been a good halo vehicle for the brand. Instead, it can stand as a prime example of waffling on the promise of plug-in vehicles. After all, Audi used to be incredibly proud of the R8 E-Tron, even if it had a tough history. The whole program was an on-again/ off-again kind of thing, but with enough momentum to get the EV some time at the Nurburgring. With both Mercedes and the EQ brand and BMW with its i brand moving strong into EVs, letting the headline be "Audi killed an EV" is not exactly fitting. It's not like Audi was wasting time making a lot of these. The R8 E-Tron went on sale in 2015 to customers who made a special request for it, and apparently only 100 did. But let's stop there. Getting 100 people to plunk down a million dollars or so for a car totals up to be a lot of money. There's no reason for Audi to price the car this high (forerunner vehicle programs almost always lose money for a time, just ask Toyota RE the Prius), but it did. And $100 million (if almost 100 were indeed sold) is nothing to scoff at, is it? It obviously wasn't enough to keep the lines and tooling open for this limited vehicle, and that sort of opens up a bigger question. Does the end (the second end, really) of the R8 E-Tron say something more important about EVs? Are they becoming less exotic high-end fixtures and more everyday transport? In a world full of Bolts and Ioniqs and E-Golfs – so, the world of 2017 and beyond – does a super high-end EV have any meaning? Gas-powered cars have managed to pull this off for decades, with Lamborghinis and Maseratis surviving just fine even with millions of Corollas out there. In a more-developed EV ecosystem, expensive EVs like the R8 should be able to do the same. Just not right now.

Automakers score 8 out of top 20 most-watched ads on YouTube [w/videos]

Who would have ever thought there'd be a day where people are able to skip television commercials only to go to websites to watch them later? Such is the joy of a DVR and YouTube. AdWeek tabulated the 20 most-watched ads on YouTube, and found that nine were car-related including eight coming from automakers.
Volkswagen continued its Star Wars theme with two ads in the top 20, including the highest-ranking car commercial The Bark Side spot at number three with almost 18 million views, which doesn't even have a single car in it. Some of our favorites are from Chrysler with Clint Eastwood in It's Halftime in America and House Arrest with Charlie Sheen for the Fiat 500 Abarth. Chevrolet, Honda, Audi and Toyota were the other automakers in the top 20, but we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention one of the coolest ads on the list, the Hot Wheels corkscrew jump.
Of all the car videos, only the Fiat ad wasn't played during a Super Bowl. Check out all eight videos - in order - after the jump. Nike took the top spot with its My Time is Now ad that has been seen online more than 20 million times with Pepsi's Uncle Drew posted up in the runner-up; some of the other videos include four Old Spice commercials and an ad in which Snoop Dogg is pedaling Hot Pockets.

Audi introduces leaner, fitter second-generation Q7

After a long run on the market, Audi has finally signaled the end of the first-generation Q7 with the introduction of the long-awaited second-gen version of the brand's first crossover. The 2016 Q7 is a far lighter machine than the vehicle it replaces, thanks to ample use of hot-shaped steel and aluminum. Beyond that, the Volkswagen Group's MLB platform will allow the fullsize Audi to accommodate a range of engines, including more potent versions of the US market's 3.0-liter, supercharged V6 and 3.0-liter TDI. On top of that, the next-gen Q7 will also be available as a diesel plug-in hybrid, complete with a version of the brand's Quattro all-wheel-drive system. The Q7's new design, meanwhile, gives the car an almost wagon-like appearance and profile. The "Singleframe" grille is wrapped in an aluminum-looking surround, not unlike Audi's smaller RS Q3. Audi's cleanly styled headlights flank it, while the large taillights aren't as aggressively angled as Audi's other crossovers. The cabin is lavish, featuring a typically stylish design with plenty of tech. A 12.3-inch TFT display takes the place of a conventional instrument cluster, while the center stack is crowned by its very own display. Even the HVAC display controls are handsome. You can see exactly what we mean in our gallery of live images of the new Q7, straight from the floor of the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.