Audi Q1 Compact SUV in 2016: OFFICIAL

Audi Q1 Compact SUV in 2016 (Audi artist illustration above) It’s only a couple of months since we revealed that the Audi Q1 – Audi’s smallest SUV to date and based on the A1 – is heading towards Audi showrooms in 2016. And now Audi has confirmed it. The new Q1 will add to Audi’s already burgeoning sales of SUV, with the Q3, Q5 and even the Q7, selling well, with the Q5 managing half of the 200,000 plus SUVs Audi sell each year all on its own.

Nissan and Fiat marketing heads trade insults over 'visual pollution'

A war of words has erupted between Fiat and Nissan's marketing departments over their electric vehicle designs, the Leaf and the 500e. Matt Davis, head of Fiat product marketing, told Bloomberg News before the launch of its all-electric 500e at the Los Angeles show last week that "ugliness is probably one of the worst forms of pollution," seen as an indirect attack on Nissan's electric offering. The then 500e came under attack with Nissan criticizing the fact that it was created only to meet Californian emissions requirements.

New techniques cut cost of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, once so costly that it was the preferred material only for fighter planes and supercars, is catching the attention of weight-conscious automakers. Carbon fiber's cost is falling dramatically, thanks to production advances that let suppliers speed the material's finicky, and costly, curing process. One technological breakthrough that makes carbon-fiber auto parts more affordable may come from a process used to make carbon-fiber golf clubs.