Rear Axle Shaft Dorman 630-218 on 2040-parts.com

Audi A3 e-tron (2015) to launch Audi’s plug-in hybrid attack

Audi’s first plug-in hybrid will hit the UK by 2015, with the electric-assisted drivetrain installed in the A3. E-tron versions of the next-generation A4 and Q7 will follow, as Audi gets serious about plug-ins, and takes the fight to BMW’s forthcoming range of ‘born electric’ i cars. Audi A3 e-tron: the full lowdown Audi UK’s number-crunchers have been trying to calculate the market’s size, to estimate potential demand and help shape the A3 e-tron’s spec.

BMW M Performance Automobiles Geneva 2012 launch

BMW X6 M50d - likely to one of the first BMW M Performance Division cars BMW has announced that they are to create a new division of cars -  BMW M Performance Automobiles – to sit below BMW M. This week is the Detroit Auto Show, but car makers are already releasing details of their offerings for the next car show at Geneva in March. Today, BMW has joined that list by announcing they will launch the  BMW M Performance Automobiles division at the Spring show.

First Sight: BMW Zagato Coupé

"I've been looking for a way to collaborate with Zagato and Nori [Norihiko Harada, Chief Designer Zagato] for around 20 years," explains Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design as we stand in the shadow of the magnificent Villa Erba. "Last year at this event we had a conversation and decided that it was the right time to do something." BMW and Zagato both have history associated with the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este – Europe's most glamorous car show – yet until last weekend the two illustrious names had never crossed paths. The BMW Zagato Coupé marks the first project between the two and the first Italian-designed car to wear the blue and white propeller since the 2003 Bertone Birusa.