Germany-based Auto Company to Offer Alternative-Energy Vehicles-

With GM and Nissan EVs about to hit the streets, Germany-based Audi (owned by Volkswagen Group) is now preparing to release a new line of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles over the next few years in a reported strategy to dominate the alternative-energy vehicle market. In an interview with Automotive News, Michael Dick, Audi’s board member for technical development reported that the next-generation A6 sedan may become a full hybrid by the end of 2012. The A6 would follow the recently announced hybrid A8 sedan at the Geneva auto show and the anticipated launch of the Q5 hybrid crossover. Hybrid capability may broaden to reach the complete Audi lineup by decade’s end. According to Dick, the auto company also intends to increase efficiency of its internal combustion engines by 30 percent and wants 5 percent of the lineup to be electric by 2020. “In the future, our customers will be able to choose from an increasingly broad range of driveline technologies,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in Geneva. “We shall offer electric power in the best possible forms for a wide range of mobility needs. The hybrid driveline will be followed by all-electric vehicles.”