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2015 Audi S8

You've gotta hand it to the Audi A8. Last year, Mercedes-Benz launched the truly stunning S-Class, putting the rest of the high-dollar luxury flagship class on notice. With the brand-new S-Class turning heads and garnering all sorts of praise from the automotive press, classmates like the BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ and Audi A8 started to look, well, old. But Audi didn't see fit to just let its big sedan carry on and let the Mercedes take the cake.
So when Audi refreshed its A8 line for the 2015 model year with only minor updates, I kind of shrugged it off as just a quick way to keep the big sedan fresh until an all-new, hopefully S-Class-trumping version arrives. But then I drove the S8 pictured above, and I'm no longer so sure the Merc's shadow is as big and imposing as it once was.
Spoiler alert: the Audi S8 is simply fantastic.

New Audi Allroad Shooting Brake concept images leak out, next TT previewed?

The Detroit Auto Show media preview kicks off on Monday, which means the time is just about ripe for previously embargoed images and information to start leaking out onto the web in a major way. Case in point is this Allroad Shooting Brake from Audi, a seemingly close-to-production vehicle that may foreshadow the styling of the upcoming Audi TT, or hint at the looks of a Q1, or both.
The TT bit may seem far fetched, but we do know that Audi has used a small wagon concept to preview the design of an upcoming TT before - back in 2006 before the release of the gen-two car. We also fully anticipate the Q1 to be breaking cover sooner rather than later, so the safe money is that the concept closely resembles what that production vehicle will ultimately look like, though perhaps with a bit more height overall.
And, frankly, be it a TT or Q1 or both, we like what we're seeing. Sharp character lines on a rounded body form follow the idiom of the current TT rather nicely, while the big-wheels-at-all-corners stance plays into the sporting character we'd expect from any small Audi. Inside, we see the same Virtual Cockpit, MMI controller, and vents that we recently took in at CES, though with a slightly different steering wheel (with the starter button built right in). Tidy work here, too.

Recharge Wrap-up: Air Liquide buys Airgas, Audi automated parking in Boston

Air Liquide will buy US competitor Airgas for $13.4 billion. The Paris-based industrial gases company — also a major producer of hydrogen gas — will pay $143 per share in the acquisition of Airgas. The deal could help Air Liquide surpass German rival Linde as the world's top industrial gases company. "The US is a very attractive gas market, it's the largest industrial gas market worldwide," says Air Liquide CEO Benoit Potier. "It's the fastest growing market among advanced economies." Read more from Bloomberg. The US Department of Energy (DOE) will announce a new funding opportunity for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Expected to be worth up to $35 million, the funding will focus particularly on the research, development and demonstration of technology for light duty passenger vehicles with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum consumption. This includes hydrogen production, delivery and storage, as well as fuel cell technologies, manufacturing and analysis. The DOE expects to issue the Funding Opportunity Announcement around December 10. Read more at Green Car Congress. Audi will bring network infrastructure and automated parking to the Boston area. In an agreement with the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, Audi will work to improve traffic flow and increase the efficiency of space used for parking. As the city continues to develop, Audi's automated parking project will help decrease the amount of land needed to park cars, and the extra space can be used for more important real estate. Also, an intelligent traffic management project connecting cars to traffic lights can help reduce congestion. Read more in the press release below. Audi brings automated parking to the Boston area November 17, 2015 | INGOLSTADT/BARCELONA • Memorandum of Understanding between Audi and the US city of Somerville • Urban innovations – networking with traffic lights and automated parking • Real-estate developers save space and money thanks to self-parking cars Audi and the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, are planning joint innovations for the city of the future on the east coast of the USA. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the context of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. They agreed to develop an urban strategy for Somerville, applying technologies for swarm intelligence or automated parking, and networking cars with traffic lights.