Audi Sees Green...

The Audi Q7 luxury sport-utility
vehicle earned the highest rating in its category under a new consumer
sentiment index aimed at identifying the smartest "green" choices available to
U.S. consumers.

This is the first year for the SmartGreen Index(SM), or SGI(SM), tabulated
by the San Diego-based marketing research firm Strategic Vision. The index is
based on actual customer experiences with perceived quality, overall value
(the "Smart" components) and performance on environmental measures, such as
fuel economy (the "Green" component). Strategic Vision weighs customer
responses to find trends that would best predict customer advocacy, owner
satisfaction, brand loyalty and, in the end, model and nameplate sales.


The Audi Q7 stood out in those measures among all 2008-model and 2009-
model luxury SUVs.


"This recognition provides further proof that Audi vehicles overall, and
the Audi Q7 in particular, offer exceptional satisfaction and long-term
value," said Audi of America Executive Vice President Johan de Nysschen. "It
also clearly reinforces Audi's commitment to provide environmentally sensitive
vehicle choices throughout our model lineup."


Strategic Vision said the 2008 index digs into consumer data to find the
few models that provide "a meaningful emotional connection" with U.S.
consumers. Simply claiming the best fuel-efficiency numbers, a hybrid power
plant or strong customer-satisfaction scores isn't enough, Strategic Vision
officials explained.

The End of Manual Gearboxes in Audis...

Audi is considering doing away with manual gearboxes and implementing a complete DSG lineup for all models.

In the trannny department, Audi engineers have stated that DSG gearboxes will be the transmission of the future, though traditional smanuals may also be offered for a while. CVTs may last a bit longer but the DSG system can handlehigher torque & Audi thinks customers prefer paddle shifts.

So expect to see seven speed DSG boxes in most RS vehicles, While keeping 6 gear DSG systems in the rest of the Audi Lineup including newer hybrids coming to market.