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Audi shifts to eight-speeds for most models

A formal press conference probably won't happen until this summer, but we hear that Audi dealers have received their 2011 order guides, and it looks as though the company will be going from 0 to about 70 percent of U.S. sales being eight-speed automatic transmissions. Beginning this fall, the eight-speed will replace today's six-speed automatic in the A4 2.0-liter turbo sedan and wagon, the A5 2.0-liter turbo coupe and cabriolet, the Q5 2.0-liter turbo, the Q7 3.0-liter turbo, the Q7 diesel, the Q7 with the 3.0-liter supercharged V6 and the all-new A8 and A8L with the 4.2-liter V8.

Video: FiDU technology creating lightweight, inflatable metal structures

This short video, featuring designer Oskar Zieta, details the process and design possibilities behind products developed with FiDU (Freie Innendruck Umformung – "free internal pressure forming") technology. Zieta, a Polish designer, explains how the lightweight yet robust metal appears as a soft object yet when you touch it you realize that it is actually a hard metal. "Working with FIDU technology is similar to carving clay," Zieta explains.

BMW 1 Series

BMW has just revealed the all-new 1 Series. The German automaker's second generation B-segment contender has grown 83mm longer, 14mm wider and has had its wheelbase stretched 30mm over its predecessor. Though the 1 Series is the smallest vehicle in the range, the new car retains proportions typical of BMW, with a long hood and wheelbase and a set-back cabin.