Audi Q5 Crossover to be available in United States by March 2010

Audi had originally planned to have the Q7 be the first hybrid to be offered in the United States. However, with the dollar weakening seemingly by the second against the Euro, Audi decided that the "natural" car to offer as a hybrid in the US was the Q5, and the car should be available by March 1 for the gasoline version of the hybrid. While this may be a welcome thing for US consumers with this offering, it's not exactly a great thing from Audi's standpoint.

"If you look at what you have to spend to get the advantage of the hybrid and what you have to spend on other technologies like diesel, the diesel is much more cost-effective," Wolfgang Hatz, powertrain development head of the VW group said. "We have to do hybrids in order to show people that we are able to do them."

Hatz said the cost to develop a hybrid powertrain is three to four times greater than for a standard drivetrain, compared to less than 50 percent for a diesel drivetrain. Considering the low volumes of hybrid vehicles, it makes for a "negative business case" to offer the drivetrain in one model only, he said.

So why offer it? Well, it has to keep up with the Joneses, what with BMW, Lexus and Mercedes selling hybrid versions soon as well. Either way, we win! :)

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Audi Q5 Crossover to be available in United States by March 2010

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