Friday, February 5th, 2010.

[Via http://christianabourdon.wordpress.com]

Poveşti de viaţă (IV) - Durerea unei mame (II)

…maşina apărută de niciunde pe culoarea verde a semaforului a aruncat trupul Dianei în aer, provocându-i instantaneu moartea. Trecătorii au încremenit. Toate privirile s-au îndreptat către trupul fraged care plutea sub cerul senin al acelei zile de toamnă , către mapa din care foile desprinse una câte una parcă plăteau tribut vieţii în zborul lor şi coborau către pământ, lent, dansând ultimul vals. În liniştea mormântală se mai auzea un singur glas, al mamei. Dianaaaaaaa! Impactul trupului Dianei cu solul a scris tristeţe şi durere pentru totdeauna în sufletul Ioanei. Aplecată asupra fiicei sale, în genunchi, plângea şi întreba De ce, de ce fiica mea? La volanul maşinii, un BMW ultimul tip, un tânăr ce tocmai obţinuse permisul, copil de bani gata care învăţase de la o vârstă fragedă că poţi cumpăra orice cu bani. Greu de crezut şi revoltător în acelaşi timp, dar personajul cu pricina a reuşit să scape destul de uşor. Verdictul? Condamnare cu suspendare. Şapte luni mai târziu, acelaşi loc, acelaşi personaj, aceeaşi culoare verde a semaforului, aceeaşi viteză, o altă maşină – de data aceasta un Audi -, doar victima era alta. EL. Personajul care altădată spulbera pe aceeaşi trecere de pietoni o fată ce-şi trăia bucuria intrării la facultate, dorind să-şi strângă mama în braţe şi să-i mulţumească pentru că reuşise în viaţă datorită ei. A vrut să evite un câine, însă viteza i-a fost fatală, plătind libertatea – pe care o obţinuse, aşa cum susţinea, orice poate fi cumpărat cu bani – cu viaţa. Se pare că sloganul acesta nu funcţionează atunci când este vorba despre viaţă. Ea nu poate fi cumpărată, oricâte conturi am avea în bancă…

“Averea cea mai de preţ e viaţa, şi viaţa noastră, vă rog să mă credeţi, nu atârnă decât de un fir de păr.”

Alexandre Dumas

[Via http://geaninalisandru.wordpress.com]

Audi defines the great unknown for VW | Advantage Brands

Audi sold 82,716 cars in the US in 2009, no mean feat considering the recession and the great reputations of the Hondas and the Toyotas. It’s Diesel campaign for the first time put something other than a car on the road for its leitmotif

It’s Audi’s third Superbowl now and Scott Keough, Audi CMO makes a great ambassador across Forbes, Adage and other business knowns, publishing his great. It helps that the makers of the Prius and the Insight have their hands full with millions of cars in recall and that Sporty Contracts like Maria Sharapova for Landrover and Tiger Woods for Buick are no longer available. As Scott Keough mentioned to Forbes last week:

The migration from luxury cars is playing into Audi’s hands. Consumers are separating old luxury with brand baggage from new, sleek, light luxury. They’ve moved away from old badge brands, but they’re moving toward substance and technology. We’re finding that people appreciate Audi for being an understated brand.

According to the Adage video Podcast, Audi’s budget for the year is up 20% selling more Clean Diesel to Americans against the odds. It’s campaign last year proved that it doesn’t take much to send all the 1.5 million BPD of Saudi Oil back. The campaign is a refreshing reminder to Dodge, Ford, Nissan and BMW that they need not just their car models on a highway in their next advertisement on the network.

Hyundai’s Joel Ewanick on the other hand will continue to upscale Hyundai’s offering from cheap small cars. The company guaranteed new buyers a year’s worth of gas at $1.49 per gallon after early 2009 ads promising good credit history failed to click. Hyundai’s advertising has ben the exact unremarkable variety with cash backs, discounts and a full screen car close up that has characterized informed Car advertising in the US for the past two decades.

With Digital Advertising revenues up 15% for 2009, linkages to online business models have become critical for Superbowl campaigns since last year as well when Go Daddy, Careerbuilder and E*Trade successfully converted their euphoric ad response into instant online Karma. Audi however has tougher eggs to fry with each unit purchase of the advertised product costing a tangible % of the cost of production of the advertisement and even its $2.6 billion Superbowl insert charge paid to CBS.

Audi’s 2009 Ad dented the value proposition of the Prius and set new standards for Car Advertising in the crunch season.

The other Superbowl campaigns continue to work around their old favourites, Coke using anime in the Avatar campaign, more than a couple of banned commercials in, with KGB the newbie also adding a couple. Doritos campaign is still choosing the winners and CB and EA will be their toning down their inital ads. Bud’s burning down a house made of beer cans alone.

In Car business, Toyota has to get a Social Rebound budget to make up for $1.6 billion lost in 4 weeks of Sales shutdown ( 20000 Cars at $20k per week)

[Via http://twitterone.com]

Audi E-tron Concept Car = My Dream Car!

The *sicknastydumbstupid* e-tron is Audi’s answer to the burgeoning performance electric market and is destined to see its way into production under an R4 badge. Four electric motors positioned strategically at each wheel combine to provide 313 horses and a torquetastic 3,319 lb-ft. Acceleration for the e-Tron is given at 4.8 seconds for 0 to 62 mph and the lithium-ion battery pack is said to deliver a 154-mile range. No exact production dates have yet been made, but we hope to see this one join the freeway ranks asap.

[via LeftLaneNews]

[Via http://itschrisfox.wordpress.com]

Sven's ETA: Feb 25, 2010

Feb 25, 2010, that’s when Sven the Volvo XC60 is supposed to arrive.  Arrive in Boise, at Lyle Pearson Volvo.

But that’s just an approximate date, as once it leaves the container ship, it’s in the trucking company’s hands and apparently, anything can happen then.  Its somehow no longer trackable? Kind of unclear…

Sven is on a long trip.  He left the Port of Gothenburg on Jan 21, and is on his 3-week salt-bath voyage across the Atlantic, down through the Panama Canal and back up the Pacific to Port Hueneme, CA where he’ll drive onto the sweet, solid ground of good ol’ California on Feb 15.  The container ship company will call [someone] to tell them that the car has been released to the trucking company. Then they’ll brush their hands off and walk away, laughing.  Sven will then get on that untrackable truck and disappear for 10 days or so before suddenly reappearing in Boise, ID on Feb 25.  Or somewhere thereabouts.

I can’t wait!  My Audi keeps reminding me, (literally, a little message comes up when you start it up) that a major maintenance milestone is coming up – one that’s about $1000, just like everything else.  Man, I can’t wait for that 5 years of maintenance included – as part of the Safe and Sound program…

Thanks again for reading, stay tuned for a few more updates.

[Via http://flyingtodrive.wordpress.com]

From Concept to Reality: First Generation Audi TT

Welcome to a new series which will be following your favorite cars that made it from concept to reality. Strap in, it’s about to get fun-u-cational. As always, any recommendations, suggestions, thoughts and ideas are much welcome. Audi’s TT: The little squashed Beetle that could (and did). This is the car that brought Audi some serious attention in the mid- to late-90’s while also influencing design for the brand that always wanted to play in the BMW/Benz league. Mission accomplished. (carscoop.blogspot.com)

[Via http://opelnews.wordpress.com]

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2010 Audi Q7 Review
Although media focus has shifted to its smaller Q5 crossover, Audi hasn’t forgotten about the larger Q7. The 2010 model, debuting at this week’s 2009 Shanghai motor show, sports a few small repairs, helping it fit in with Audi’s heavily-revised portfolio.
Walkaround
If you’re a fan of the Q7’s physical form, you’ll be elated to know the crossover’s shape doesn’t change for 2010. Exterior changes are limited, with the largest revision being revised front and rear bumper skins. Others, notably the new grille insert and LED daytime running lamps, help bring the Q7 in line with the company’s current design ethic. Perhaps the most important feature inside is Audi’s new third-generation Multimedia Interface, or MMI. The infotainment system uses Audi’s latest form of 3D navigation, and a new joystick control for navigating through menus, maps, and the like. Users can also control the MMI through a revised vocal command system, which responds to personal statements like “I’m hungry” or “I need gas” by searching for restaurants or gas stations nearby. It can also be paired to a 14-speaker, 505-watt Bang & Olufsen audio system, similar to those offered in other Audis.
Summary
Unchanged, however, are the Q7’s powertrains. A direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6, rated at 280 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque, is still the base offering, while the 350-hp direct-injection 4.2-liter V-8 is the grand-daddy of the lineup. Slotting between those two is the 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6 introduced in 2009. Rated at 225 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, it’s marginally slower than a Q7 with the 3.6, but its 17/25 mpg city/highway rating is impressive, as is its 600 mile range.

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[Via http://fleetratesnews.wordpress.com]