"The Audi guys have been trying to build a sports car for 25 years - this has been a long wait," Winterkorn told me as he flogged the R8 around the track. I asked him, yelling to be heard over the engine's snarl, what impressed him most about the car. "That anyone can drive it" - he glanced at me - "even a woman." If Audi wants to conquer America, it had better get a mindset adjustment: Next time, Herr Doktor, I'll drive.
Winterkorn and Rupert Stadler, Audi's new boss, confirmed that the next step for the R8 is to get a bigger engine. Eventually, says Winterkorn, it will share a new platform with Lamborghini, Bentley and (hooray!) Bugatti. But for now, Audi can rest easy in the knowledge that it has created a classic.
|
|
|
|
 With Quincy Jones riding shotgun, Fortune's Sue Callaway straps in - and takes the sinister, sexy, $8 million Maybach Exelero for a spin. (more) |
© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy
Live Quotes automatically refresh, but individual equities are delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET.
* : Time reflects local markets trading time. † - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Disclaimer
* : Time reflects local markets trading time. † - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Disclaimer
| Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use. Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET. Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data. Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc.. SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc.. Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC. |
