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Turns out the Volkswagen Cross Coupé concept shown off at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show may be a smoke signal for an impending new product. And apparently the reaction was positive enough to the integrated grille and sloping hindquarters that the picaresque four-door crossover could inspire a production version within three years.

VW execs believe CUVs will continue to grow in popularity, and that as they do, customers will want perhaps more car-ish variety in their styling, with more muscle and sportiness. According to Autocar, this vehicle wouldn’t come alone, either, with “several variants” being pledged if this one does see the light.

The concept itself was done with that in mind, seeing as it sits on the transverse matrix architecture that will support the next Golf and Audi A3. When we saw the concept in person, we couldn’t help but notice the production touches like partsbin window switches and seat rails, so we had a strong feeling that we were looking at a thinly disguised new model (though the hybrid powertrain will likely be a thing of the distant future).

Check out a video of the Cross Coupé on the stage in Tokyo after the break.

Continue reading VW Cross Coupé concept presages 2014 Evoque rival [w/video]

VW Cross Coupé concept presages 2014 Evoque rival [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Driving Audi’s Futurethink Diesel-Electric Roadster

At last September’s Paris Motor Show, we were thrilled to see this very concept car, the Audi e-tron Spyder. The crisp lines of its carbon composite exterior, its tapering side windows, its airflow vents cut in the hood, its almost impossibly clean and sleek interior treatment… all of it spoke strongly without trying too hard.

After the September 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show debut of the R8-based all-electric e-tron, we then got the surprise of seeing an even smaller one – also called “e-tron” (perhaps to confuse and/or not give too much away regarding the design’s important future) at last January’s Detroit Auto Show. This second electric car, a hardtop, carried two electric motors pushing the rear wheels (versus the four motors of the R8 e-tron’s all-wheel drive, an ongoing programming challenge referred to within Audi as e-Quattro).

The e-tron Spyder, however, is not just a roofless version of that stunning Detroit e-tron coupe, as the model we’re driving here comes with an all-new plug-in diesel hybrid-electric drivetrain, and it’s 5.1 inches longer with more wheelbase, along with being 1.2 inches wider. On the other hand, the current Audi TT is 4.7 inches longer than the e-tron Spyder, so we’re still operating on a very small scale here.

Our time in the driver’s seat of the e-tron Spyder was originally set for right after June’s 24-Hours of Le Mans, where the car successfully completed a parade lap for the almighty marketing department’s sake. Sadly, right as they were loading the car onto a transporter to get it on a plane and out here to SoCal, an incident occurred that left one of the rocker panels of the Spyder pretty beat up. Now that the summer holiday and big Frankfurt show push is done, we’ve been given another go.

Continue reading 2014 Audi e-tron Spyder [w/video]

2014 Audi e-tron Spyder [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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