Audi Quitting Dominant 24 Hours of Le Mans in Favor of Formula E; Tesla Turned Profitable in Q3; Audi Rolls Out Plug-in A6 in China
Audi Quitting Dominant 24 Hours of Le Mans in Favor of Formula E
According to Audi MediaCenter, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler announced on this past Wednesday that the brand would “terminate its FIA WEC commitment, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the end of the 2016 season”. The new focus for the motorsport department is the electric Formula E series.
Audi has been dominating the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the 18 years of participation, the team won the title 13 times. Teams like Porsche and Toyota are still active in the WEC.
Currently, in Formula E, Audi sponsors the team ABT Schaeffler. The brand will form its factory Formula E team and race starting the 2017-18 season.
Tesla Turned Profitable in Q3
Tesla released Q3’16 Update Letter on this past Wednesday.
The company earned a net income of $22 million for the quarter (second such quarter in its history) on the GAAP basis. In Q3, Tesla collected revenue of $139 million from the sales of ZEV credit.
24,821 cars were delivered, which include 16,047 Model S units and 8,774 Model X units. The score is a 114% increase from the same period of last year. Tesla’s goal of delivering 80,000 units in 2016 seems under control, with a bit over 25,000 deliveries to go for Q4.
Audi Rolls Out Plug-in A6 in China
According to Automotive News China, Audi has started the production of the plug-in hybrid version of its A6 sedan, at the FAW-VW joint venture in China. The model is named A6L e-tron. The total range is 500 miles, of which about 30 miles are on electric.
The car will go on sale during the Guangzhou Auto Show in Nov. 19. Audi sells is plug-in A3 e-tron currently in China and will introduce Q7 e-tron there later in the year.