2007 Frankfurt Auto Show: Audi's (Body-Free) Hybrid and Bryan Adams

Pretty aggressively we would think. This is, after all, the man who played a guitar until his fingers bled! Also, Audi garnered the coveted Adams Seal of Approval when he commented that the new A4 "is a beautiful car." We tried to get a picture of the man himself but all that we got was a series of shots of the backs of other Adams-enthusiast journalists.

Then, Audi showed a hybrid concept without a body. It was just a 2.0-liter four-cylinder bolted to an electric motor forward of the transmission and some suspension and wheels. It's not the upcoming Q7's powertrain. That will use a 3.6-liter V6. The rest of the components are essentially the same. Is this the powertrain for an upcoming A4 hybrid or simply window dressing to satisfy a cranky German government, which is putting increasing pressure on the native car companies? Audi isn't saying.

Neither is Audi saying much about whether it will build an A7 model which, predictably, will slot between the A6 and the A8, except that it is considering it. The company says its goal is to sell 200,000 cars in the U.S. by the year 2015 and the small Q5 SUV to be unveiled next year is to be a big part of the growth.

As the man himself would say: "When the feelin's right, I'm gonna run all night. I'm gonna run to you." -- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit, Inside Line