Beside the integrity of their fast, luxury sports cars, there is yet another reason to choose Audi; they've found another, less expensive way to offer drivers better fuel economy without compromising power.
This is why Audi has officially abandoned the idea to bring an Audi A8 hybrid sedan and Audi Q5 hybrid CUV to America. Audi has found that by using a traditional diesel powerplant in each of the aforementioned models, they're able to deliver drivers better fuel economy compared to both the current A8 and Q5 as well as their respective hybrid concept counterparts.
To shed even greater insight into the common misconception some automakers propagate about hybrid cars, Braman Audi would like to share with you the 20/20 insight of Johan de Nyssschen, President, Audi of America. "Our current [Audi] A8 with the 4.2L gasoline V-8 gets the same fuel economy as hybrids from BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes," he explains, crediting the feat to the new A8's extensive use of lightweight aluminum. "Imagine now what happens when you put a diesel in the car. You have all of the drivability and driving enjoyment with even better fuel economy."1
If you are wondering how much of a difference in fuel economy there is between the hybrid and diesel variant, testing shows the hybrid delivers 36.8 mpg. While this is certainly nothing to scoff at, the diesel Audi A8 raises the bar even higher with a total of 39.2 mpg.
Audi has not yet revealed exactly when they might bring such vehicles to
market. Simply that they will not be offering an Audi A8 hybrid or Audi Q5
hybrid to drivers in West Palm Beach or elsewhere in the U.S. That
said; we expect the luxury automaker to share specific plans surrounding the
vehicles soon. In the meantime, remember you can always explore the
conventional gas-powered 2012
Audi A8 and 2012
Audi Q5 online.
Source: 1http://www.egmcartech.com/2012/01/29/report-audi-pitches-q5-diesel-as-performance-variant-hybrid-version-for-fuel-economy/