Audi's Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg talks future innovation and CES

Last week, Audi Board Member for technical development Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg was meandering down the California coast, sampling red wines. Vacation over and on his way to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, he popped by Stanford University's Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab to speak to students who'd just returned from winter break themselves.

Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 Stradale

Following on from the Villa d'Este Design Concept Award-winning TZ3 Corsa, Zagato has announced the production of nine more TZ3 models. Unlike the 8C-based TZ3 Corsa, the new Stradale will be based on a Dodge Viper ACR platform and V10 drivetrain, making it the 'first American Alfa Romeo' according to Zagato. The car is said to be a tribute to Alfa Romeo and Zagato's street legal heritage, and continues the line of cars that ended with the S.Z.

Ford puts Volvo up for sale

Having spent most of the last twenty years carefully building up a portfolio of Prestige European car makers, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo, the last of these, Volvo, has now been put up for sale by Ford. This hardly comes as a surprise when you see the precarious state of Ford. It’s busy going cap-in-hand to the US government looking for a bail out, and selling off Volvo could add several hundred million pounds to its decimated balance sheet.