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Price hikes, idled factories, layoffs: how car companies are responding to Trump’s tariffs

2025-04-04T18:15:19-04:00

From Audi to Volvo

President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on all auto-related imports have been called "a debacle of epic proportions" and a sure-fire way to tank the auto market by crushing demand. Analysts have been predicting everything from $12,000 per vehicle price hikes to the possible "Cubanization" of the US car fleet.

Now that they've had a few days to process the news, the automakers are starting to get their ducks in a row and make some moves.

Here's how each company is responding:

Audi

Now that the tariffs are in effect, the German automaker is holding all vehicles assembled in Mexico and overseas at US ports until further notice, accordi …

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Audi will try to make its model names make more sense

2025-02-03T14:10:44-05:00

Audi is launching a new global nomenclature system for its vehicles to more clearly represent a vehicle's type, size, shape, and powertrain.

The updated system will still begin with letters like A for "low-floor" vehicles or Q for "high-floor" ones. That will be followed by numbers 1 through 8 that help represent the size or classification of the vehicle. However, Audi says it will no longer use odd or even numbers to represent what powertrain technologies it uses.

Then comes the body style, which includes Avant, Sedan, or Sportback, where applicable. Finally, Audi will add to the end a powertrain code, including the TFSI (Turbo Fuel Stra …

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Audi’s lifted Q6 E-tron Off-Road concept is ready for winter driving

2025-01-24T18:17:32-05:00

Looking like a true brute of an off-roader. | Image: Audi

Audi has revealed a new dual-motor electric off-road vehicle concept based on the Q6 E-tron that looks ready for a snowpocalypse. The automaker built a working prototype that lifts the vehicle by 6.3 inches and widens it by 9.8 inches, giving it a stance that wouldn't be out of place if it appeared in Truck Country, USA.

Audi's CEO Gernot Döllner calls the "Q6 E-Tron Off-road concept" a "reinterpretation of Quattro," which is the company's marketing term for its all-wheel-drive models.

The extra ride height is courtesy of four bespoke portal axles integrated into the wheel hub assemblies at the front and rear that Audi says increase torque …

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Heat pumps in EVs are making a big difference in cold-weather driving

2025-01-23T17:50:26-05:00

This icy 2025 Audi Q8 E-Tron has a heat pump. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Many EV manufacturers have leaned heavily on energy-gulping resistive heaters to keep the cabin and battery warm in the winter time. But heat pumps, which can cut down on battery range losses in the cold, are becoming more prevalent in EVs, and they could help EV owners in the US who are dealing with the low temperatures across much of the country this week.

EV research site Recurrent reported that heat pumps can improve drivable range in below freezing temperatures by about 8 to 10 percent. The site tested this by comparing the ranges of 2020 Model 3 and Model S vehicles that lack heat pumps against 2021 versions that have them.

Recurrent …

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Audi’s 2025 RS E-tron GT ‘Performance’ is its quickest car yet

2024-11-22T10:23:22-05:00

Audi RS E-tron GT Performance starts at $167,000 before destination charges. | Image: Audi

Audi is giving its all-electric E-tron GT sports sedan higher performance, more battery range, and faster charging speeds for the 2025 model year. It's also increasing its starting price.

The lineup now includes a new entry S E-tron GT model that starts at $125,500 before destination charges, a far cry from the already expensive $100,000 base model it's sold since the beginning of 2022. There's also a new RS E-tron GT "Performance" version that starts at a whopping $167,000 before destination charges. We reviewed the 2022 model year version, then priced at an extravagant $140,000.

However, you're getting Audi's quickest car yet for that Pe …

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Audi launches a new brand in China without the four-ring logo

2024-11-07T12:36:23-05:00

The new “AUDI” logo and E concept for China. | Image: Audi

Audi is making a big change to its branding for the Chinese market with a new logo that lacks the automaker's famous four-ring emblem. Today in Shanghai, the company showed off the new "AUDI" logo - yes, it's just Audi in all caps - on the front of a new E concept electric Sportback that notably lacks its broadly used "E-Tron" branding.

In a press release, Audi's CEO Gernot Döllner said it's hoping to tap into China's "more tech-savvy" customers who "expect leading connectivity as well as automated driving." Reuters reported in August that Audi was planning a rebrand for China, where the automaker sold less than 10,000 vehicles in the count …

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Porsche to recall over 27,000 EVs in US over battery short circuit risk

2024-10-10T11:52:17-04:00

Porsche is recalling thousands of its Taycan electric vehicles over a possible short circuit risk that could cause a fire. The recall affects 27,527 Taycans built between October 21st, 2019, and February 1st, 2024, according to the NHTSA safety recall report.

The problem has been narrowed down to a cell block module in the LG Chem-produced batteries used in the Taycan. However, Porsche doesn't actually know which cars have the problem and says it can't get the analytics to check:

This recall (ARB6/ARB7) applies to a vehicle population for which Porsche currently has no positive knowledge that data anomalies exist in the high-voltage batter …

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The Audi Q8 E-tron’s new ‘S line’ appearance package could be its last hurrah

2024-08-02T13:14:41-04:00

It looks like the SQ8 E-tron, but it’s not. | Image: Audi

Audi is giving its all-electric Q8 E-tron some premium add-on packages across the lineup as the automaker's overall EV sales are falling quarter over quarter this year.

The 2025 Audi Q8 E-tron SUV and Sportback now have a "sportier" S line competition appearance package that feels a bit like a parts bin consolidation. It adds body components from the $90,000 SQ8 E-tron, making the vehicle wider, and includes a body-color Singleframe and special 21-inch five-spoke black wheels. It also gets black-painted brake calipers with S branding and door projection lights for the edition.

While the package is only launching in Europe right now, the co …

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Audi launches new A6 and S6 E-tron Sportback EVs

2024-07-31T07:00:00-04:00

Audi's got some new E-tron EV models, and this time around, they aren't SUVs. Instead, we're getting electric versions of the A6, the automaker's popular midsize sedan, and it's coming in both a Sportback and an Avant station wagon style, along with performance S6 variants.

Audi first revealed the A6 E-tron as a concept at Auto Shanghai in 2021, and the production version is looking very close to the source material. The front still has slim headlights with adaptive matrix LEDs (only available outside the US due to regulations) and a front grille with a fish scale-like texture surrounded by a dark mask. On the back, the car has digital OLED …

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Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use Tesla’s EV charging plug

2023-12-19T17:24:58-05:00

Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Porsche, and Scout Motors, is finally doing what nearly every other automaker has already done: announce its intention to adopt Tesla's electric vehicle charging standard.

VW said it is "exploring adapter solutions" so that its current EV owners can access Tesla's Supercharger network and expects to have something to roll out by 2025. That same year, you'll start to see new VW electric vehicles rolling off the assembly line with Tesla's charging port natively installed. All told, VW says the deal will give its customers access to 15,000 Supercharger locations in North America.

VW said it is "exploring …

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