Acura Type-s Types S Steering Wheel Chrome Keychain on 2040-parts.com

Audi plans expansion of hybrids, electrics

Audi plans a rapid expansion of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles over the next few years as a key component in Volkswagen Group's strategy to dominate the alternative-powertrain market by decade's end. Michael Dick, Audi's board member for technical development, told Automotive News that the next-generation A6 sedan will have the potential to be a full hybrid by the end of 2012. The A6 would join the recently introduced hybrid A8 sedan at the Geneva auto show and the soon-to-be-launched Q5 hybrid crossover.

Ford EcoSport concept

Ford is choosing the New Dehli Auto Expo to unveil its EcoSport concept. The all-new crossover vehicle is comparable to the Fiesta in size and is built atop Ford's new B-Car architecture. Designed in Brazil under the direction of Joa Marcos De Oliveira Ramos, the EcoSport is poised to be a significant part of the company's ‘One Ford' strategy that will see the previously Brazilian only EcoSport rolled out further afield in markets both developing and mature.

Visionary tech

Ignore the marketers: There's nothing new under the technological sun. Cost and reliability concerns may have hindered the early adoption of these auto-tech breakthroughs, though you'd never know it based on their present-day ubiquity. 1941: Crossovers The combination of a fully enclosed, carlike body and all-wheel-drive underpinnings got its start with the Volkswagen Type 87 Kommandeurwagen.