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Audi celebrates 25 years of TDI

Nope, the diesel engine never really did go out of style for Audi. Now, the German automaker has released a video reminding the world of its persistence with the oil-burners and is commemorating the Silver Anniversary of Audi's first commitment to turbodiesels in 1989. And, yes, there are some road racers shown in the clip, so some of those bad boys actually move pretty well. Audi engineers on camera admitted to some of the early TDI engines being "slow" but still valuable for their torque and, obviously, their fuel economy relative to gas-powered engines. A bunch of tinkering later, though, and Audi says its diesels can be a legitimate "part of a performance car" and has even overcome the issue of noisiness that's often associated with diesels. The automaker made some news in these parts a few years back when its Audi A3 TDI won the 2010 Green Car of the Year at the annual LA Auto Show in late 2009, and the model even succeeded a fellow diesel (the Volkswagen Jetta TDI) to boot. Granted, diesel sales aren't nearly as popular in the US as they are in Europe. Still, Audi last year boosted its diesel sales in the US by 40 percent to 10,076, which was about a tenth of what sister company Volkswagen sold in diesels last year in the States. And things have looked even rosier this year for Audi's TDI sales. Through June, Audi diesel sales have almost quadrupled from a year earlier to more than 8,100 units. Check out the 150-second video on Audi's 25-years of TDI production below.

Coronavirus prompts VW to stop production throughout Europe

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday. The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year. "Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands," Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday. Volkswagen's powerful works council concluded it was not possible for workers to maintain a safe distance from each other to prevent contagion and recommended a suspension of production at its factories from Friday. Production will be halted at VW's Spanish plants, in Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and at the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy before the end of this week, Diess said. Most of its other German and European factories will prepare to suspend production, probably for two to three weeks, while Audi said separately it would halt output at its plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Volkswagen's vast factories in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Puebla, Mexico, and plants in Brazil were not affected, but that would depend on how the coronavirus spreads, VW said. Volkswagen has 124 production sites worldwide of which 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone. "2020 will be a very difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts," Diess said.   Production in China resumes Volkswagen Group sold 10.96 million vehicles last year, putting it ahead of Toyota based on the latest figures from the Japanese carmaker. Globally, VW employs 671,000 people and it delivered 4.86 million vehicles to European customers in 2019. Only last month the car and truck maker based in Wolfsburg, Germany, predicted that vehicle deliveries this year would match 2019 sales and forecast an operating return on sales in the range of 6.5% to 7.5%. "The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group.

Autoblog Podcast #413

Episode #413 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, and Brandon Turkus recap all of the big debuts that took place this week at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Of course, the podcast starts with what's in the garage and finishes up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #413 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics 2015 Detroit Auto Show In The Autoblog Garage 2015 Chevrolet Trax 2015 Audi RS 5 2015 Ford F-150 Long-Term 2014 Jeep Cherokee Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:xx:xx Rundown Intro and Garage - 00:00 2015 Detroit Auto Show – 37:49 Q&A - 01:32:48 Get The Podcast UStream – Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes