Audi is reversing plans to sell the Q7 Hybrid in the US, primarily due to currency exchange impact on their business case.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...ailweeklyANE13

NEW YORK — The weak dollar has claimed another victim: The Audi Q7 hybrid crossover won't be sold in the United States.
Johan de Nysschen, head of the Audi brand in the United States, said Audi could not make a business case for the electric/gasoline engine hybrid. The hybrid was scheduled for launch in early 2009, soon after the diesel Q7 goes on sale.
"If you look at the way the economics are going, it was a very hard car to make the numbers work," de Nysschen said in an interview at the New York auto show.

 

Hi Martin,

I read some of the articles and was wondering if this was going to be a hybrid-diesel? The article also mentioned the Q5.

BTW, I've been reading a little about the dual-clutch transmission that Volkswagon has and it sounds like an interesting approach for a semi-automatic transmission. If I understand it correctly, it sounds like weight closer to a manual transmission but with computer control, the operation of an automatic.

Bob Wilson

 

wait wait wait.

are they still going to sell the Q7 hybrid or have they stopped it completely (cause we know that the US is the largest market for hybrid vehicles). Audi is turning its back on that?

 

Probably a V8 gas FAS type system.

Here's a continuum on "refinement & shift feel" from "coarse" to "smooth"

manual trans ---> automated manual (MTA) ---> dry DCT ---> wet DCT ---> step gear automatic ---> CVT

Most American drivers who are accustomed to step gear automatics would find MTAs objectionable. European drivers who are used to manuals have adapted to them well and will more than likely do the same with DCTs.

Dry DCTs have a fuel economy advantage over MTA, wet DCT, and similarly sized step gears. Wet DCTs give back a bit of that fuel economy in parasitic losses in exchange for better shift feel. Cost is all over the map, depending on the size of the application. Take a look at the Nissan GT-R supercar. It has a 7-speed DCT that is so big and heavy they apparently had to lengthen the car to fit it. This is primarily due to the amount of torque the gears have to handle. On the other hand, VW is doing some amazing things with relatively small, low torque FWD applications.

Peace,

Martin