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MotorWeek revisits Audi's iconic Quattro

The Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and just about every other all-wheel-drive performance car owes something to the legendary Audi Quattro, a model that was far more successful on the motorsports scene than it was in the showroom. Despite its modest sales, the UrQuattro still looms large in automotive lore, and indeed, in Audi's own sense of self. Considering the brand's semi-regular flirtation with the idea of a reborn Quattro, MotorWeek must have figured it'd be a good idea to revisit the original by digging up this archival review.
While time has the ability to cover up the warts of iconic automobiles, it should be noted that Motor Week host John Davis had more than a few critiques for the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged coupe.
Davis calls the Quattro's slalom handling "a disappointment," citing the overpowered engine and slow steering, and he had some unkind words for the brakes, as well. For our part, we're kind of wowed by the amount of ship-like body motion during testing, yet that sort of bobbing was certainly par for the course back in the early '80s.

Tesla says Model 3 is best-selling midsize premium sedan in America

Auto sales figures are sort of fuzzy numbers, no matter how you slice them and no matter which manufacturer you're talking about. Unless you're specifically tracking vehicle registrations, automakers generally self-report the figures. So, you have to trust that they aren't doing anything too tricky. Plus, not every sale is equal, as some are logged as dealership loaners or demo models, some go to fleets (like to a rental car agency), and still others are, of course, bought by traditional customers looking for a new daily driver. With that preamble out of the way, when we saw a tweet from Tesla claiming that the all-electric Model 3 is the best-selling midsize premium sedan in America, our interest was piqued. According to Tesla, market share of the Model 3 has just surpassed the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which had up until now led the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Lexus IS as the best-selling sedan in its class. Note that the graph from Tesla below is, we think, specific to four-door models. So, is it true? Judging by the numbers we can find, including some from Bloomberg, which has a running chart to track Model 3 registrations, the answer is... probably. We don't know exactly how many Model 3 sedans Tesla is currently cranking out, but Bloomberg estimates production at about 2,560 units per week, and total sales for 2018 at 34,414. We know the number is increasing regularly, though, and Elon Musk has said most recently production sits around 500 units per day, which, on a seven-day cycle, would be 3,500 per week. We looked up Mercedes' sales figures for the month of May, 2018, and found that the German brand sold 5,419 C-Class models last month, for a total of 23,917 for the year (incidentally, that's down more than 30 percent from the year prior). While the bulk of those sales would surely be made up of sedans, it would also include a small percentage of coupes. Either way, it's likely that Tesla is currently producing and selling more Model 3s than Mercedes is C-Classes. Now, it's also worth considering if the C-Class is the only vehicle from Mercedes that directly competes with the Model 3. We'd guess customers may also cross-shop the CLA sedan with the Tesla, and if that's the case, you might decide it's worth adding in Mercedes' 2,527 CLA-Class sales last month and 9,622 so far for the year. The same argument could be made for certain versions of the BMW 2 and 4 Series.

VW suspends sales in South Korea ahead of government meeting

Volkswagen and Audi have announced they will suspend sales of 79 different models in South Korea ahead of a meeting with the country's environmental ministry. VW will halt sales starting on July 25, the same day that its officials are to sit down with the South Korean environmental ministry, which will likely punish the German company. The Wall Street Journal reports that Korea's response to the situation will likely come in the form of an outright sales ban on Volkswagen products by revoking certifications on 79 different models based on 34 different vehicle types. Affected models include the VW Golf, Jetta, and Tiguan and the Audi A3 and A6, the WSJ reports. Essentially, it looks like VW is merely trying to get out ahead of the South Korean government. If the revocation goes through, it'd likely lead to fines and a relatively large recall of around 79,000 vehicles, the WSJ reports. Despite the dreary forecast, Volkswagen reaffirmed its commitment to the South Korean market. "This decision doesn't mean that Volkswagen is pulling out of Korea, which is a very important market to us," a Korean rep for the company said in a statement. "We'll reapply for certification of our cars if the government revokes it. The process may take several months." While Volkswagen's diesel emissions testing scandal is part of the problem, South Korea is taking a harder line than a lot of other countries. Authorities indicted a Volkswagen exec on charges of submitting falsified emissions documents and noise tests last week, while separately, Korea's trade watchdog is considering criminal charges against execs, according to the WSJ. Banning VW Group sales in South Korea isn't quite as dramatic as if the company stopped sales in China, the United States, or Germany, but it's still going to sting. VW Group products (including Bentley) represented around a third of European cars imported by South Korea last year. News Source: The Wall Street JournalImage Credit: Stefan Wermuth / Reuters Government/Legal Green Audi Volkswagen Emissions vw diesel scandal