Labels: Lamborghini

Amazingly enough, we've come to the end of another year — one that was truly remarkable for Audi and for all our customers. Among the many highlights that marked 2005 were:

* Step Ahead with Audi A3: 3 filmmaking teams. 3 unforgettable cross-country treks in search of people, places, and things a step — or more — ahead of everyone else. Working with the American Film Institute (AFI), Audi selected filmmakers who competed to create the best 15-minute film. The incentive for each road trip? The sophisticated and irresistible Audi A3.

* Audi A6 named "World Car of the Year": The year was off to a stellar start when the Audi A6 was awarded World Car of the Year at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. The new A6 topped a list of 36 new vehicles across a range of parameters that included acceleration and braking, safety features, and off-road capabilities.

* Audi A4 and A6 Receive "Interior of the Year" Honors: Ward's Auto World selected the Audi A4 and A6 from a field of 23 different vehicles, awarding them top honors in recognition of their innovative use of new technologies, materials, ergonomics, and overall aesthetics

* Three "Double Best Picks" and "Top Safety Picks" for the Audi A3, A4 and A6: When Audi received its first "Double Best Pick" in crash test safety this year for the Audi A6, the press noted that the designation was a distinctive achievement. After all, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) had rarely in its history given one vehicle Best Pick status in both frontal and side crash test safety. When, a few months later, the Audi A4 won its own "Double Best Pick" in the same safety tests, the achievement was even more stunning. Now, Audi can celebrate its third "Double Best Pick" of the year — an unprecedented achievement for a car manufacturer. Crowning our efforts to develop the safest cars, in November the IIHS additionally designated each model as the "Top Safety Pick" in its class.

* Partnerships with premier products and services: Throughout 2005, Audi teamed up with providers of premium goods and services to furnish our customers with special offers and values. Among our many partners were iTunes, Bose, Palm, Abercrombie & Kent and Armani Exchange.

* Audi A8 earns 2nd Consecutive "America's Best Luxury Car" designation: For the second year running, readers of AutoWeek voted the Audi A8 America's Best Luxury Car, stating "The more we drive the Audi A8 and its longer, roomier A8 L sibling, the more we wonder why anyone would pick another luxury car."

* Champion Racing: Audi has a spectacular year: "This season is one that probably could not be duplicated," said an elated Dave Maraj, Team Owner/Champion Racing. "We won the three most important sports car races: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours LeMans and Petit LeMans. Two of our drivers — Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro — won the Drivers Championship, Team ADT Champion Racing won their 2nd Team Championship and we gave Audi their 6th Manufacturer's Championship." Plus, Team ADT won the Automobile Club de France Ecology Trophy. The Audi R8 with its FSI engine outdistanced the field in both fuel efficiency and noise level.

* Audi A3 chosen Best Sport Compact in Car & Driver's "Ten Best Car" competition: It was a fitting finish to an amazing year when Car & Driver selected the new Audi A3 as one of the years finest.

With an extraordinary year like 2005 behind us, the question is: what will 2006 have in store? The answer: more exceptional vehicle introductions, events, and partnerships that underscore — perhaps more emphatically than ever before — Audi's commitment to performance and power. Here are some of the most eagerly-awaited:

* The 2006 Audi Q7: It may be one of the most anticipated releases in Audi history. The Audi Q7, which combines premium luxury, breathtaking performance, and classic Audi excellence in one unforgettable SUV, is making its North American debut in spring, 2006.

* The 2007 Performance Models: In a year focused on power and performance, Audi will unveil four 2007 models that are the embodiment of both: the Audi S4, RS 4 and S8. Each, a tribute to dynamism, as expressed in its engine, transmission, suspension and design. In the coming months, you'll have the opportunity to find out more about these superlative vehicles.

Labels: Audi

For the sixth year in succession, Audi UK is to set another new annual sales record following the delivery of over 81,000 new Audi models to UK customers in 2005, up from a total of 77,882 in 2004.

Final data has yet to be collated, but 2005 draws to a close with well in excess of 81,000 sales already confirmed, equating to an increase of approximately 5 per cent on 2004’s record figure, and a rise of around 100 per cent in just six years from 1999’s total of 40,615 cars.

This exceptional result augurs extremely well for 2006, during which the Audi range will expand to include both new models campaigning in new market sectors and new variants within existing ranges. The hotly tipped new Audi Q7 seven-seat SUV, for example, has only just opened for UK order ahead of first deliveries in the summer of 2006, and will begin to make its presence felt in Audi Centres next year.

2006 will herald another new departure for Audi as the brand ventures into thoroughbred sports car territory for the first time with the new R8. The dramatic new mid-engined, quattro permanently four-wheel-driven super car will also be joined next year by the rugged new allroad quattro, and by new derivatives of the A3 hatchback, A4 Saloon and Avant and A6 Saloon and Avant, all likely to contribute to a substantial boost to Audi UK performance in the premium sector in 2006 and beyond.

Director of Audi UK Jeremy Hicks broke the extremely encouraging news to Audi staff earlier this week, and is confident that the best is very definitely yet to come for the brand in the UK. “I am delighted and greatly encouraged by what Audi UK and its sales network have achieved this year, especially as we are enjoying this success just before we embark on a period of intense new model launch activity and diversification. We have some incredible new cars waiting in the wings that will take us into new territories and also strengthen our core, and I am confident that with their help we will see quite a few more comprehensively shattered Audi UK sales records in years to come.”

Labels: Audi

Labels: Lamborghini

The sports car world's favourite bull is ready to rage again! And Auto Express can exclusively reveal the truth about Lamborghini's plans to bring back one of its best loved models - the Miura.

While contacts close to the firm have been hinting about the possibility of an all-new model for some time, designers in Italy have grabbed the bull by the horns to recreate an icon to sit at the top of the legendary supercar maker's line-up.

The pictures seen in this week's mag have been based on leaked information from within Lamborghini, and show that the Miura will be as close to the original model as Ford's GT is to the classic GT40. The Lambo's dimensions are still top secret, but most likely will end up - as with the blue oval model - slightly larger than the original for both safety regulations and passenger comfort.

Labels: Lamborghini

Labels: Bentley

Labels: Lamborghini

Italian luxury sports car maker Lamborghini is all set to drive in its best selling model 'Gallardo' to India within the first quarter of '06.

"The plan is to bring the Lamborghini Gallardo within the first quarter of next year," Exclusive Motors Manager (Sales) Rahul Grover (the distributor of Lamborghini in India) said.

While the exact pricing could be known only next month, he said Lamborghini Gallardo could be tagged anything between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore.

Grover said the target was to sell about two to three units of Gallardo in '06.

Lamborghini had stated said it was more concerned with the infrastructure in India than the purchasing capability of its potential customers.

Labels: Lamborghini

According to the VW guy that showed this to me this is a full production car, not a demo or tuner model; it has AWD, a sick factory wing thing on the back, carbon fiber on all the scoops (rears are functional brake coolers!), HUGE brakes front-and-rear, fully race-ready seats and best of all a 3.7L version of the V6 currently found in the new Jetta (which is rated at 280+ hp). No official comment on horsepower figures, but the tech’s best guess was “over 300”… Doh. (BTW, this is apparently factory paint, styling & bodykit as well).

Labels: VW

We are racing down the autobahn at 230 km/h in a Volkswagen Phaeton when a car slides into the lane ahead, prompting our luxurious Volkswagen sedan to gently slow itself down enough to maintain a safe distance between us and the car in front.

Magic? Not at all. This is adaptive cruise control or ACC at work. Using radar or a laser beam to monitor the traffic ahead, ACC adjusts vehicle speed without direct driver input when it senses a vehicle – or perhaps some other object – ahead. It is all automatic and instantaneous. ACC is important because it not only adds a new safety feature to the electronic safety arsenal already on board today's automobile, it just might help reduce traffic jams, too.

Labels: VW

Labels: Bugatti

Labels: Bugatti

The lesson gets a little more complex starting in 2006, as Audi has just launched a new premium compact vehicle which necessitates a few new rules. Its called the A3, and its available in a practical five-door package called Sportback, which is somewhere between Avant and hatchback. And, while quite a few have already experienced this compact premium hold-all with the invigorating 200-horsepower FSI-T motor, for the New Year, the car will gain a V6 engine that makes it very schnell. So, by all measures, shouldnt this one be called the S3? It very well could, but it isnt according to Audi. No problem, I can appreciate a good rule bender.
What makes this A3 3.2 stand out even more, as it flashes past into the horizon, is its drivetrain. Where you might expect a humble inline-four, the upgraded model packs a big, powerful narrow-angle V6 engine complete with the kind of mechanical goodies you might find under the hood of a formidable sports car like, say, the Audi TT. This comparison makes plenty of sense considering the engine is the same as the one found in the swanky two-plus-two coupe, complete with variable valve timing and a set of variable intake manifolds. Output is rated at 250-hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, identical to the range-topping TT.

As one would expect, the A3s interior is as good as they come - its best in class, in fact, although theres really nothing on the North American market that competes with it. But even when brought nose-to-nose with the 3-Series or the new Lexus IS, the A3 comes out on top with typically stunning Audi details, beautifully crafted seats and instrumentation. The experience is enhanced if the A3 is equipped with the Open Sky panoramic power sunroof, where the interior is brightened via an open, airy feel. In terms of style, the A3 resides somewhere between the A4 Avant and the TT, particularly in the details.

Labels: Audi

Brand-new Volkswagen Kombis sputter into life as they come off the assembly line in the VW factory 32km south of the city after a manufacturing ritual barely changed since hippies turned the boxy vehicle into a counterculture icon.

They go straight to work on the streets of Brazil's largest cities for deliveries of all kinds, as ambulances, mobile convenience stores and even troop transports, rather than heading on long, strange trips across Latin America's largest country.

But a long chapter in the history of Volkswagen will end on Friday (December 23) when the last air-cooled engine will be installed in a vehicle seen as a museum piece almost everywhere else.

Labels: VW

Volkswagen announced today that it has reclaimed the sales lead in the European market, with over 1.4 million vehicles sold through November.

VW's European market share is now 11.1 percent. The company's 2005 performance has been driven by its Golf model, which accounted for more than a third of VW's sales. Volkswagen Chairman Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard credited the company's strong performance to its wide range of new and updated models, led by the Golf Plus (pictured). Bernhard promises "more surprises" for 2006, and a strong focus on the high-volume segment of the market.

Labels: VW

Volkswagen's EcoRacer sports car has successfully completed its racetrack debut: 34 journalists from nine countries gave the concept car from Wolfsburg a thorough test on the racetrack in Pau in the South of France.

In three days, the motor sport journalists covered over 1200 kilometres, mainly at high speed, in the yellow two-seater. The EcoRacer proved that it is versatile and dynamic in the guise of a coupé, a roadster and a speedster.

The EcoRacer weighs just 850 kilograms thanks to its carbon fibre body. It accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.3 seconds. The newly developed 1.5-litre turbo diesel with 100 kW /136 PS has a top speed of 230 km/h and an average fuel consumption of just 3.4 litres per 100 kilometres.

However, not only the technology fulfilled the expectations of the Volkswagen engineers. The design of the vehicle was also presented well at the racetrack. Volkswagen designer Cesar Muntada: "It is a wonderful experience to see your new vehicle on the road for the first time and to see the reactions to it. I am particularly pleased about the emotions the EcoRacer stirred up on the racetrack."