2013 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Sport Utility 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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South Korea to file criminal charges against VW exec

South Korea has tossed out Volkswagen's recall plans and is preparing to level criminal charges over its handling of the diesel emissions catastrophe, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Recall plans the company submitted to us earlier this month were insufficient and lacked key information, and thus are unacceptable," the South Korean Ministry of Environment said in a statement obtained by the WSJ. A ministry official hinted at the possibility of criminal charges earlier this month if VW's recall plan wasn't satisfactory, the Yonhap News Agency reports, and now it looks like it will actually follow through. According to the WSJ, South Korea has already ordered VW to recall 125,000 vehicles and slapped the automaker with a $12.3 million fine – one of the many countries to do so – but if it follows through with criminal charges against the company or its employees, it'd be among the earliest to so. Other countries, including the United States, are still exploring the possibility of criminal charges. Charges would likely come against both Audi Volkswagen Korea and its managing director, Johannes Thammer. It's not clear what the actual charge would be, but the WSJ claims Thammer could be facing up to five years in prison and a fine of 30 million won (around $24,700 at today's rates). For its part, VW officials in South Korea maintains that it is "doing its utmost to resolve the emissions issue" and that it plans to "offer further explanation" to authorities regarding its proposal for an emissions and fuel mileage fix in that country.

Audi pushing DOT to allow its sequential LED turn signals [w/videos]

Still in the process of trying to get its trick LED Matrix Beam headlights legalized in the US, Audi is now trying to get its front and rear sequential LED turn signals approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Just like its auto-dimming headlights, the sequentially illuminating turn signals don't meet NHTSA's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108.
The problem, according to Automotive News, is that the individual lighting elements are too small to meet current US safety regulations. The rule states that each lamp should be 22 square centimeters (8.6 square inches) and the whole lighted combined area must be 50 square centimeters (19.6 square inches). In the individual sequence, Audi's lights are much smaller than that. As for the Ford Mustang, which has had sequential turn signals since 2010, this system is legal since the first lens is large enough to meet the required size, so the other two lights really aren't even necessary.
It sounds like it could be some time before we see these turn signals on Audis in the US, which is a shame because in addition to their styling bebefuts, we think they're more effective at signaling the vehicle's intended direction of travel, and they do a better job of grabbing the eye. Scroll down to watch a pair of videos showing the headlights in action on the redesigned A8/S8 as well as the recently updated R8.

Audi joins the car-sharing party with Shared Fleet

Seeing the success Zipcar and Daimler's Car2Go, more auto manufacturers are cutting out the middleman and jumping into the car sharing business. General Motors, Ford, and BMW have all introduced or announced their own programs. And now Audi has now thrown their hat into the ring with its Shared Fleet program. Like its competitors, Shared Fleet will be accessed through an app. The fleet consists of a mere three all-new and fully loaded 2017 Audi A4s and will be rolled out in a small pilot program in Durham, North Carolina. Audi plans a nationwide fleet for sometime in 2017. Through the app, customers will be able to locate and unlock vehicles. Pricing is currently unknown, but it is likely to be based off the time used, not the distance driven. The pilot program will be based at American Underground, a technology incubator in North Carolina. This will give Audi the chance to get the program into the hands of tech savvy users who have likely used competing programs. More than 700 employees at 200 companies are based at the facility. This isn't Audi's first foray into the car rental business. They previously invested a large amount into Silvercar. They also operate Audi on Demand in San Francisco, a similar program to Shared Fleet. With Audi on Demand, users can drop cars off at their destinations. Related Video: