The crossover is the new minivan, and in an age of $4-per-gallon gasoline, the fuel-efficient crossover is all the rage. While minivan-mommies may disagree for the sake of image, ask yourself: how is your crossover different than your parent’s minivan? The minivan sprang out of the station wagon revolt and the CUV is the result of minivan denial. As usual, the formula is the same: start with a sedan, add a taller box, toss in some optional AWD to make buyers think they are getting something rugged and you get instant sales success (unless you’re a Chrysler, but that’s a different review). This CUV formula wrought on an A4 creates the Audi Q5, one of Audi’s hottest selling models in the US market. Sales of the cute-ute soared over 70% to just over 23,000 in 2010 and show no signs of cooling with January sales up 50% over 2010. To keep the momentum (and CAFE numbers) going in the right direction, Audi has mated the corporate 2.0T engine to the latest 8-speed auto from ZF creating the 2011 Q5 2.0T Quattro.
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-Nate - ? Suicide doors are still legal ? . I rather liked the whole article but $5.00 says RR never lets you in the door again Jolly Good Show! . -Nate
jimf42 - I want Bob Lutz’s v8 version of the Fisker…same great design, with real performance.
WaftableTorque - I concur. I can’t tell if it’s a class warfare piece, an xenophobic editorial about the yellow peril, or about British...
RobertRyan - Nice summing up about who killed the Ford Falcon in Australia from a news website. “Who killed the Ford Falcon? In short, it was YOU… You –...
CJinSD - Somebody must have known that the look wouldn’t sell in the US either, but they threw away one of those moments when they had a chance to compete with...
TonyJZX - i think a lot of that is true like many parts of the world, the place is getting very anti car, and anti BIG car if it costs the better part of...
RobertRyan - @ScoutDude “They are definitely relying heavily on trucks but they aren’t doing that bad in other segments. The Econoline, Escape, Explorer, and...
Lie2me - With your imagery as contrasting as the red leather piping, I could all but hear “God Save The Queen” emanating from the Lexicon...
WaftableTorque - Good to know. My 2002 LS430 has been quite reliable, but its not a cheap car to maintain. My biggest maintenance expenses were a laser cruise control...
Scoutdude - Yet they spent a bunch of money to develop an all new Ranger, though they chose to not offer it in the US, to protect the F150′s #1 spot. Of course...