New Car Buying Guide
Audi Q7 V12 TDI Diesel Not For U.S. - Car News
Audi says the 3.0-liter diesel is good enough to satisfy the small appetite for diesels in the U.S.
Audi has made its decision and we don’t like it: the Q7 SUV will not come to the U.S. with the 500-hp, 6.0-liter V-12 diesel engine that offers up 738 lb-ft of torque. That crazy torque fun is for Europe only.
Michael Dick, Audi's member of the board of management for technical development, broke the news to us in an interview at the 2008 Paris auto show.
The consolation prize remains the Q7 with a 3.0-liter diesel that is coming in early 2009 for sale in North America. Audi is happy with leaving it at that; Dick says there isn’t enough demand for the V-12 in the U.S. Diesels just haven’t caught fire here the way they have in Europe, where oil burners account for half of all sales, and that figure is as high as 80 percent in some countries.
It was initially thought that a Q7 hybrid was a better alternative for the U.S., and original plans called for a hybrid by the end of 2008, but Audi has since cancelled plans to add electric motors to the SUV. Instead, a Q5 hybrid is due at the end of 2010 as a 2011 model in Europe and in 2011 as a 2012 model in North America.
Whether other models will get hybrid powertrains depends on the market and demand, Dick says, and Audi will use the Q5 to gauge popularity. Demand for hybrids is higher in the U.S. than other world markets, and Audi will look at this option for vehicles that could use the efficiency boost.
- Home
- Buying Guide
- HFMUS Sweepstakes
- Reviews
- News
- Features
- Photos
- Videos
- Forums
- Buying Guide Directory
- Contact Us
- Vehicle Index
- Used Cars
- Site Map
- Blog
- Subscriptions/Customer Service
Copyright ©2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.
Visit other Hachette Filipacchi sites:
- Boating
- Cycle World
- ELLE
- ELLEgirl
- Flying
- PointClickHome
- PopPhoto
- Premiere
- Road & Track
- Sound & Vision
- Woman's Day
