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Upcoming Audi Q1 rumored to get high-performance SQ1 variant

The Audi Q1 isn't due for another two or three years, yet Auto Bild reports already that it will come in RS and SQ1 trims. According to the report, the RS Q1 will be powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder putting out 300 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, putting it about 70 hp and 8 lb-ft beyond the next-most-powerful gasoline engine in the standard range.
Depending on how you like your gumption served, however, the first SQ1 - like its European SQ5 sibling - go the diesel route with a 2.0-liter TDI fitted with twin turbos for 231 hp and 368 pound-feet of torque. That's an improvement of 47 hp and 88 lb-ft over the most powerful diesel engine said to be offered on the regular Q1.
The report goes on to say that there should be g-tron (natural gas) and e-tron versions of the Q1, and buyers will get a deep toy chest of assistance packages to equip it with. Starting price in Europe is expected to be around 25,000 euros, which, if correct, would make it 4,000 euros less dear than the Q3 in Germany.

'Worldwide, every third Audi will be an SUV by 2020'

Automotive News Europe reports the new Audi manufacturing facility in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico will increase the automaker's production capacity for the Q5 SUV by 150,000 units per year. While the plant will supply every market with the exception of China, most of the production is slated to head to the US.
While speaking with ANE, Audi CEO Rupert Stradler said, "Worldwide, every third Audi will be an SUV by 2020." So far this year, 40 percent of Audi vehicles sold in the US have been light trucks, with the company's sales in that segment jumping by 53 percent. By comparison, Audi passenger car sales have increased by just one percent.
The first Q5 vehicles from the San Hose Chiapa plant will show up on dealer lots in 2016. Audi of America recently received a larger 9,000-unit allocation of Q5 models after seeing sales increase 36 percent through April compared to the same period in 2012.

Audi readying diesel PHEV models for US and Europe

With the racing pedigree provided by the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the German king of Le Mans is capitalizing on the connection between its road cars and race cars at every opportunity. Maybe there's an entire range of Le Mans Editions for the automakers diesel-hybrid offerings, with perhaps Tom Kristensen acting as the brand's spokesperson for the technology in Europe. You'd be wrong, though, because despite the R18's overwhelming successes in endurance racing, Audi the road-car manufacturer doesn't offer a single diesel-hybrid production car.
This factoid will hopefully be as short lived as it is disappointing, though, as a diesel-electric is around the corner, according to the brand's tech boss, Ulrich Hackenberg. In fact, it gets better than a mere diesel-hybrid; it will be a plug-in diesel-hybrid, only the second to hit the market, alongside the European-market Volvo V60.
According to Hackenberg, the new tech will be the result of a marriage between the brand's well-received 3.0-liter, TDI V6 with an electric motor. The next-generation Audi Q7 (shown above) will be the initial recipient, confirming previous reports that claimed a PHEV TDI could come to the next-gen CUV. Its MLB architecture, meanwhile, would allow the plug-in-hybrid-diesel powertrain to be fitted easily enough to the A8 luxury sedan. While the new Q7 should hit the market at some point in 2015, it's unclear when the PHEV TDI model could see the light of day.