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VW Group plan puts Porsche in charge of a 'super-premium' division

An Automobile report looks into what's happening on the organizational and technical sides of the Volkswagen Group, and what those changes could mean for the premium brands. The wide-angle view is that Porsche appears to have been anointed to "coordinate the future activities" at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Audi would cede Lamborghini guardianship to Stuttgart, and Ducati — via a new concern called Ducati Enterprises — would become the shepherd for VW's other Italian investments. Executives target Jan. 1, 2019, to complete the reshuffle. VW wants to save a boodle by tying up four of its five top-tier brands, and putting the one with the highest ROI in charge. Porsche, within its own house, wants to reduce expenditures by $2.3 billion per year over for four years, the savings already earmarked for improving internal processes like R&D and production. Having Porsche share those gains as well as lead development of platforms, components and future-tech strategies for the sister sports car brands could benefit everyone. In the near-term, the brands have their own plans: Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is said to want a Chiron Superleggera, a roofless and "completely reskinned" Chiron Aperta, and a track-only Chiron SS. The Superleggera could take the Chiron Sport's and Divo's Jenny Craig routines even further. The Aperta seems a natural successor to the Veyron Grand Sport, a natural evolution of the recently introduced Sky View roof, and a reskin might include numerous Divo cues. It's also said Bugatti's considering "an all-electric high-end model" in conjunction with Porsche, Rimac, and Dallara, but name one supercar or hypercar manufacturer that isn't considering a lightning-fast EV. Lamborghini, deep into work on follow-ups for the Huracan and Aventador, might get a bit of a bump with the new plan. The carbon "monofuselage" for the next V12 flagship is said to be too far developed and too complex to scrap. It puts two electric motors on the front axle, batteries in the middle, and a naturally aspirated V12 with around 770 horsepower plus another e-motor with 402 horsepower in back. The Huracan is said to get a version of the same carbon architecture at the moment, but the corporate reorganization might press pause on it. Automobile says options include continuing the Huracan/ Audi R8 twinning, but that depends on Audi saying "Ja" to a third-gen R8 with Lamborghini bones.

2015 Audi R8 Competition ready to rock LA

The heyday of the first-generation Audi R8 is winding down, and the Four Rings already has a bespoke factory to start building the next model soon. In the meantime, the German brand is sending its supercar off with a bang at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show in the form of this limited-edition 2015 R8 Competition - the most powerful production vehicle ever made by the company.
Audi is earmarking just 60 examples of the Competition for the US, and this is more than just a trim package to say farewell. Power for the supercar comes from the usual 5.2-liter V10 that's massaged to develop 570 horsepower, an extra 20 hp over the already quite potent V10 Plus, and the only available transmission is the seven-speed, dual clutch S Tronic gearbox. The tweaks let this limited R8 rocket to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds and achieve a maximum velocity of 199 mph. To haul that speed to a stop, it also gets ceramic brake disks with red calipers.
Of course, having such a rare supercar means showing off a little. Audi takes inspiration from the R8 LMS Ultra racecar for the Competition and tries to bring some of its details to the street. The model wears matte carbon fiber pieces replacing the rear spoiler, mirror housings, side blades, front spoiler and rear diffuser. For an extra mean-looking touch, it also has high-gloss black paint covering the wheels and exhaust pipes.

The one where we give you real car-buying advice | Autoblog Podcast #495

On this episode, Mike Austin and David Gluckman dive into some useful advice for people searching for a good used car, something David has been dealing with lately. They also talk about what they've been driving lately (Mike took a road trip in our long-term Fiat) and answer some Spend My Money requests from listeners looking for advice. And we have listener questions and comments to discuss, so thanks for sending those in. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And please send trivia questions! You'll get the honor of stumping your fellow listeners, and we'll thank you too. Autoblog Podcast #495 The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics and stories we mention 2017 Audi A6 Our long-term 2016 Fiat 500X 2017 BMW 330i Used cars Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 01:09 Listener mail - 12:49 Buying advice - 20:20 Spend My Money - 29:38 Total Duration: 57:23 Get The Podcast 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 on iTunes