Audi, BMW, SGL Carbon, Apple, Tesla, Honda, Mahindra, Infiniti.

New Audi A4 is late: Audi seems to have set its priorities right and is postponing the launch of the next A4 by six month until early 2015. According to German newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’, Audi wants to prepare the car for electric and hybrid drivetrain variants first. It seems like Ulrich Hackenberg, new head of development at Audi, is giving the right orders.
‘Handelsblatt’

BMW to boost carbon production: The carmaker and its partner SGL Carbon said they will double output from 3,000 to 6,000 tons while building a second hall for carbon fibre production at their jointly run facility in Germany. The move comes after growing demand for BMW’s electric i-series and plans to use the material in other vehicles like the new 7 series.
reuters.com, europe.autonews.com

Open to speculation: Andrian Perica, merger and acquisitions chief at Apple, met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year, reports the SF Chronicle. While the meeting might have been (re-)fuelling speculations about Apple buying the electric carmaker, no new or feasible facts emerged.
sfgate.com via news.cnet.com

No more Honda hybrids: Due to low demand, the Japanese carmaker will stop offering its Insight and CR-Z hybrids in Europe. Only the Jazz hybrid (also known as Fit) will stay but could be discontinued in 2016.
4wheelsnews.com, motornature.com

Electric cab export: Mahindra will not offer its latest Verito Electric on its domestic market. The company is however looking into exporting it as an electric taxi and is currently researching potential markets.
indianautosblog.com

Infiniti Hybrid tested: Autoweek set out to find out if the new Q50s hybrid is able to compete with its German competitors. Being “Prius quite” and with a “very good” overall quality, Infiniti is on the right track to become a serious competitor to the “established kings of lederhosen”.
autoweek.com