AutoWeek reports that the "weak U.S. dollar has claimed another victim:" Audi decided against importing the Q7 hybrid. Johan de Nysschen, head of the Audi brand in the United States, said in the report that Audi could not make a business case for the electric/gasoline engine hybrid. The hybrid had been scheduled for launch in early 2009, right after the diesel Q7 goes on sale. "If you look at the way the economics are going, it was a very hard car to make the numbers work," de Nysschen said in the interview.

He said that the more likely hybrid candidate will be the smaller Q5 crossover, which debuts in the United States next year. "That hybrid has always been in planning. The question is, again, volume potential," de Nysschen said. "We in the U.S. are more enthusiastic about diesels. Hybrids have a niche in this market. We are a small company and ask ourselves if we need to be in every niche." I can see the wisdom of not offering a diesel and a hybrid, I suppose. But I'd still say yes; it seems that hybrids are a niche only because there aren't enough vehicles on the market yet. Demand is certainly high enough, and I imagine that will also be the case for clean diesel.