Audi believes it can sell 20 to 25 percent of its vehicles in the United States with diesel powertrains. The company is pushing a political message—reducing foreign oil dependency by driving diesel—with ad and marketing dollars, but its executives aren't sure if it will pay off.
Just five years ago, only Toyota and Honda offered hybrid gas-electric vehicles—the Prius and Insight, respectively. Now, there are more than a dozen carmakers—including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen—that offer, or have plans for, hybrids. Here’s a roundup of news just over the last few days about hybrids coming from the homeland of Rudolph Diesel.
Audi announced a 4,800-mile American driving tour, known as the Audi Mileage Marathon, yesterday in an effort to promote the arrival of the carmaker’s TDI clean-diesel technology in the US. “Think of it as the ultimate efficiency test,” said Marcel Barro, an automotive journalist and Marathon participant.
