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Audi exec denies plans for turbo R8

Sometimes smoke doesn't lead to fire. Rumors indicated Audi might drop a turbocharged engine into the latest R8, but now a top executive is throwing a bucket of cold water onto the burning speculation. "The performance potential of this current engine means we don't need to even look at turbocharging at this point," Jurgen Konigstedt, Audi development boss for V6, V8, and V10 engines, said to CarAdvice. He also said sticking with natural aspiration offered a better sound and sharper throttle response than going with forced induction. "There is less emotion with a turbocharged engine," he said. Konigstedt admitted there was a serious discussion about turbocharging the R8. The argument just didn't win out. "If we feel that people absolutely want a turbocharged engine, then we will have to consider it," he said to CarAdvice. Audi just launched a new generation of the supercar. The 2017 R8's 5.2-liter V10 will be available in two tunes: with 540 horsepower in the standard coupe or 610 hp in the Plus. Rumors have persisted about a smaller, forced induction powerplant at the bottom of the range. Some reports suggested a twin-turbo V6 behind the driver, but others said the electrically supercharged 2.5-liter inline five was a candidate. The reason for the entry-level addition was tied to lowering the taxes on the R8 in markets like China. Related Video:

Audi reportedly will cut costs by $12B to fund electric-car push

BERLIN - Audi aims to cut costs by 10 billion euros ($12 billion) by 2022 to fund a shift to electric cars as it seeks to move on after the emissions scandal, sources close to the carmaker said. Audi, Volkswagen's main profit driver, plans to bring five new all-electric models to market in coming years, starting with the E-Tron sport-utility vehicle (SUV) to be assembled from 2018 in Brussels. Despite run-up costs for its electric-car program, the luxury automaker wants to keep its operating profit margin at 8 percent a year at least, two sources close to Audi said. Its profit margin in the first half of this year was 8.9 percent. The bulk of the $12 billion cost savings would come from cutting research and development costs, the sources said. A spokesman at Audi's headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, declined comment. German business daily Handelsblatt reported the cost-savings target and profitability plans earlier on Sunday. Audi also aims to free up money for investments in zero-emission technology by developing a new production platform with Porsche, allowing both VW premium brands to save money by sharing components and modules. Audi is grappling with car recalls, prosecutor investigations, and persistent criticism from unions and managers over the diesel emissions scandal and its post-dieselgate strategy. Sources told Reuters on Friday that four of the brand's seven top executives are earmarked for dismissal in the near future. On Sunday, sources said the dismissals were discussed by supervisory board members last Thursday but a formal decision has yet to be taken. Reporting by Andreas CremerRelated Video: Featured Gallery Audi E-Tron Quattro View 11 Photos Image Credit: Reuters Green Plants/Manufacturing Audi Emissions Technology Emerging Technologies Diesel Vehicles Electric Luxury e-tron dieselgate diesel emissions

Munich prosecutors arrest Audi employee in emissions probe

Munich prosecutors arrested an Audi employee on suspicion of fraud and false advertising in connection with the carmaker's emissions scandal, the first arrest in Germany related to Volkswagen's diesel scandal. The Audi employee was arrested on Monday, at the behest of Munich prosecutors, a spokeswoman for the Munich prosecutors office said on Friday. When asked if the arrest was at the request of US authorities, the spokeswoman said it was not. She did not give the name of the person. Munich prosecutors declined to comment on whether the arrested person is a current or former Audi employee. Audi and parent Volkswagen both declined to comment. On Thursday, the US Justice Department said it charged former manager Giovanni Pamio with directing Audi employees to design software to cheat US emissions tests in thousands of Audi diesel cars. Audi is a division of Volkswagen Group. The Munich prosecutor's office said the Audi employee was brought before a judge on Tuesday and was now being held in custody. The spokeswoman declined to discuss the possibility of the detained person being extradited to another country or comment on whether Munich prosecutors were in touch with US authorities. The German arrest was part of a wider probe into fraud and false advertising and is a consequence of "findings following searches," the spokeswoman said. In March, Munich prosecutors searched the offices of Jones Day, the lawfirm Volkswagen had hired to lead an internal investigation into its emissions scandal and Audi's headquarters. Volkswagen condemned the searches at the time, and never published the full findings of its internal investigation which was being conducted by Jones Day. The raids by Munich prosecutors in March sought to shed light on who was involved in the designing and using illicit software used in 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche cars with bigger 3.0-liter engines. No members of the Audi management board are being personally investigated as part of that probe, the spokeswoman said on Friday. In the criminal complaint released by US authorities on Thursday, US prosecutors charged that Pamio ignored or suppressed warnings by certain Audi engineers that the pollution control systems being used on the brand's diesel engines violated US clean air rules. US prosecutors said Pamio had ordered subordinates to send false information to American regulators stating that Audi's "clean diesels" did not use technology designed to cheat federal pollution tests.