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Audi R8 e-tron killed off for production – again

It’s more than six months since we reported that Audi were planning to kill off any production plans for the electric R8 e-Tron, with Audi’s head of R&D saying the production plans for the R8 were going to be scrapped. And it seems they have now gone in the bin. Autocar are reporting that Audi has confirmed to them that the R8 e-Tron won’t be going in to production and the ten latest e-Trons to be built will be used just for testing and development to help Audi with its ‘electrification’ plans, which will now almost certainly concentrate on plug-in hybrids and range extenders, rather than EVs.

Mercedes-Benz to cut production time, halve number of vehicle architectures

Mercedes-Benz is restructuring its global production network to cut the average production time for its models to 30 hours by 2015 from 43 in 2008. "We have increased productivity by 2 percent a year over the last few years. We will be accelerating our productivity efforts," Mercedes production boss Wolfgang Bernhard said during an investor conference that was part of the automaker's plant opening in Kecskemet, Hungary, on Thursday.

Bill Ford outlines 'Blueprint for Mobility' vision [w/video]

Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford outlined a plan this week to develop connected cars to combat congestion on the roads in the future. His speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain was the first ever to be delivered at the annual communications industry event by an automotive industry executive. TED was there to capture the event on video (see left).