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Winterkorn vacates chairs on Audi, Truck & Bus boards

The last remaining vestiges of Martin Winterkorn's power within the Volkswagen Group are slowly melting away. The former chairman of the group's management board resigned as CEO nearly two months ago in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. He held onto other roles within the group, but one by one he's been vacating those as well. Last month Winterkorn resigned from his role at Porsche SE – Volkswagen's largest shareholder. Now the latest development comes from Bloomberg, which reports that Winterkorn has stepped down from his role as chairman of the supervisory board at Audi. Prior to his promotion to run the entire group, Winterkorn served as chief executive of the Audi division, and prior to his resignation served continued to serve as its board chairman. No date was given for his resignation from that capacity, nor any successor named at this point. Repeated requests for clarification from Audi have gone unanswered. In correspondence with Autoblog, however, spokespeople for VW's commercial vehicle operations confirmed that Winterkorn has also stepped down as the chairman of the board at Truck & Bus GmbH. The newly established division encompasses truck manufacturers Man and Scania. Winterkorn also served as chairman of Scania's board, but requests for confirmation of his departure from that role also went unanswered. The Swedish truck manufacturer, however, named Henrik Henriksson as its a new chief executive only a few days ago.

Germany says nein to EU ban on new fossil-fuel cars from 2035

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's government will not agree to European Union plans to effectively ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Tuesday. In its bid to cut planet-warming emissions by 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels, the European Commission has proposed a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035. That means it would be impossible to sell combustion engine cars from then. European Parliament lawmakers backed the proposals this month, before negotiations with EU countries on the final law take place. Speaking at an event hosted by Germany's BDI industry association, Lindner said there would continue to be niches for combustion engines so a ban was wrong and said the government would not agree to this European legislation. Lindner, a member of the pro-business Free Democrats, which shares power with the Social Democrats and Greens, said Germany would still be a leading market for electric vehicles. (Reporting by Christian Kraemer; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Miranda Murray and Edmund Blair) Green Government/Legal Green Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen Opel SEAT Skoda

The 2018 Audi SQ5 looks mean and switches to turbo power

Audi's huge Q8 wasn't the only crossover introduced by the German automaker at this year's Detroit Auto Show. Right alongside it came the 2018 SQ5, the brand's high-performance midsize crossover. This newest version ditches the previous generation's supercharger in favor of a turbo for its 3.0-liter V6. The powertrain is similar to the one used in the latest S4 and S5. Horsepower remains unchanged compared to the last SQ5 at 354, but torque sees a healthy increase to 369 pound-feet, and it's available anywhere from 1,370 to 4,500 rpm. The car itself weighs about 77 pounds less, too. It's a combination that should make the SQ5 pretty entertaining off the line. Coupled to the turbo engine is an eight-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive. Power delivery and handling can be enhanced with a Quattro sport rear differential that can shuffle power left and right to aid cornering. Audi says the torque vectoring system can send almost all rearward power to one wheel as necessary. The differential is available as part of the S sport package, which comes with other upgrades including air suspension. The suspension gives the crossover a lower ride height by default. Both height and firmness can be adjusted, and it offers an "offroad" position that raises the car for maximum ground clearance. Inside, the SQ5 comes with a sportier interior than its Q5 counterpart. It comes with prerequisites such as a flat-bottomed steering wheel and more-bolstered seats. Audi also provides a Bang & Olufsen sound system and standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The cabin experience can be further augmented with Audi's Virtual Cockpit LCD instrument panel, as well as driving assists such as a variable-ratio steering rack and adaptive cruise control that can handle stop-and-go traffic from 0 to 40 mph. Audi will begin selling the new 2018 SQ5 here in spring of 2017. Pricing for it and the Q5 has not yet been released. Related Video: