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Porsche says goodbye to Audi's Le Mans team in this classy video

Well, this is cute. You may remember that in 2014 Audi made a video to welcome Porsche, its corporate sibling, back to Le Mans racing. It involved an Audi race car, a farmer on an old Porsche tractor, and the street in front of Porsche HQ. With Audi leaving Le Mans after a successful 18-year run, Porsche is returning the favor with this sort of sappy video. There's not much more to it. The video starts with clips from the original, where the Porsche-diesel-tractor-driving farmer is passed by an Audi R18 that traveled from Ingolstadt to Stuttgart to make some very precise German street graffiti (in English). Then, in the present day, the farmer hears the news of Audi leaving LMP1 and he gets an idea while Joe Cocker's "Up Where We Belong" starts to play. (Yes, seriously.) We won't spoil the ending for you. It still stinks that Audi had to leave Le Mans racing in the wake of the diesel scandal to focus on Formula E racing instead. But it's good to see there are no hard feelings between the two VW Group brands, at least as far as the marketing departments are concerned. We expect the Porsche-Audi sibling rivalry and corporate squabbles to continue behind closed doors, however. Related Video: Audi Porsche Racing Vehicles Videos porsche 919 hybrid

Audi CEO announces new electrified car each year starting in 2018

Audi is preparing an aggressive (and possibly desperate) plan to electrify its lineup following the disastrous diesel emissions scandal. CEO Rupert Stadler announced the plan during the company's Annual General Meeting in Ingolstadt. "Starting in 2018, we will launch another electrified car each year," Stadler said. This is easily the most dramatic statement we've heard about electrification since Audi of America President Scott Keogh told Autoblog that one out of every four Audi models will have some kind of plug-in capacity by 2025. This new push for electrics will kick off with Audi's long-awaited all-electric CUV. We've already known about this guy for a while – according to our conversation with Keogh, it will be based on the E-Tron Quattro Concept first shown at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. And earlier this year, Audi even went as far as confirming its Brussels, Belgium factory will screw together the new EV. Speaking of those batteries, Audi expects them to match the 310-mile range promised by the E-Tron Quattro. What we're really eager to see, of course, is what Audi has planned after 2018. Will we get an all-electric A4 to battle the Tesla Model 3? An A7 E-Tron to challenge the Model S? Or will Audi go with a segment Tesla hasn't exploited yet? Expect a few years before we get answers to those questions. Beyond the EV announcement, Stadler also confirmed the next-generation Audi A8 will debut in 2017. The new luxury sedan will be capable of driving itself at speeds up to 37 miles per hour, fitting with previous reports. From there, Stadler expects to "see fully automated driving" by 2025. Related Video:

Next-gen Audi A7 spied from afar

The 2018 Audi A7 has been spied testing from afar. The blurry photos reveal very little about the upcoming sedan, which is covered in heavy camouflage. The next A7 appears to retain its iconic fastback design and is sporting the automaker's single-frame grille with slimmer headlights. In typical Audi fashion, we expect the upcoming A7 to get subtle changes that give the sedan a more muscular look, while maintaining the overall appearance of the current model The next-gen A7 will utilize the MLB Evo platform that can be found on the Audi Q7 and should make its way onto the upcoming Audi A8, as well. The platform should help the A7 lose some weight and give the sedan better driving characteristics. The upcoming A7 should have similar engine options as the current model, which include a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 and a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8. European countries will most likely get a diesel model with a rumored plug-in hybrid variant coming in the near future. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Aud A7 Spy Shots Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Audi Hatchback Luxury Sedan