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After posting relatively sturdy sales despite challenging conditions around the world, Audi feels it’s in position to do a bit of chest-thumping, and that comes through in its 60-second Super Bowl ad.

A teaser released Friday shows a fast-paced blitz through four decades, starring actor Jason Statham of the Transporter series and The Bank Job, and a supercharged Audi A6. It has chase scenes, stunts and at one point, a BMW goes flying through a billboard.

Audi says that it is using the ad as a shot across the bow of its old-guard competitors, and a Mercedes-Benz--which is hit by a Lincoln--and a Cadillac are featured in the commercial in unflattering fashion.

“It has drama, it has action and it tells a really great story,” said Scott Keogh, Audi’s chief marketing officer.

Statham, who personally drives an Audi, said the bit was faster-paced than his long list of action movies--high praise from an actor who starred in a film, Crank, whose underlying plot was adrenaline.

“It’s very different to making a movie,” Statham said. “The reactions have to be so quick. It all has to be compressed and condensed and things happen in a tenth of the time.”

A 30-second spot during the Super Bowl will cost about $3 million. The only car companies expected to advertise are Audi and Hyundai, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. None of the cash-strapped Detroit 3 is running spots this year.

Johan de Nysschen, president of Audi of America, said the company is aiming to gain market share this year, and it appears the ad is reflective of that mind-set.

“We do feel we go into it with a strong position,” he said during a visit to AutoWeek earlier this month. “I think the momentum is going to be carried over into the new year.”

In this rare instance, a divorce seems to be benefiting everyone--including supercar fans.

The Mercedes-McLaren hookup that spawned the SLR is unwinding this year, and for the second time this week, we’ve received shots of what the one of the companies is doing next. In this case, it’s McLaren’s P11.

Spy shooters caught the supercar during a snowy testing session in Sweden as it undergoes cold-weather drills. These shots look similar to what we’ve seen before, though the car is heavily clad in black and white plastic.

The Formula One-inspired car will compete with the Ferrari F430 and new Mercedes supercar, the SLR McLaren-successor SLC, due for 2011. Spy shooters recently caught the SLC.

The two-seat P11 is expected in November 2010. It will rely heavily on carbon-fiber and aluminum materials, which would help keep weight under the 3,100-pound threshold. A soft-top spider could arrive in 2011.

Look for a turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 from AMG that will be reworked and given a McLaren badge. It could check in around 550 hp. The unit could be paired with a F1-style quick-change transmission.

The supercar has evolved since former Fiat and Ferrari designer Frank Stephenson signed on with McLaren.

Sprint Car and Modified racing legend Lou Blaney, father of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney, died on Jan. 25. He was 69.

Blaney, of Harford, Ohio, piled up more than 600 wins and more championships than he could count in Sprint Cars and Modifieds during a career that ultimately earned him a Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

His feats at Lernerville Speedway are matched only by the elite drivers in the track's 41-year history. He is second to only Bob Wearing Sr. in career feature wins (118) and track championships (seven). In one incredible stretch from 1972-1975, Blaney captured 49 wins and four consecutive track titles in Sprint Cars. He then moved into the Modified class and reeled off championships in 1980, 1991 and 1996, along with a division-leading 69 feature wins. He also drove a Modified to a career-best second-place finish in 1981 at the New York State Fairgrounds during Super DIRT Week events.

In recent years the Blaney family, including Lou's wife, Kate, has owned and operated Sharon Speedway in Burghill, Ohio, site of several World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Late Model Series events.

Volkswagen is on a mission to triple its U.S. sales to 800,000 units by the end of the decade. Hitting that goal will depend on expanding VW's U.S. lineup.

We know that VW's new plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., will build a sedan that's going to be a bit larger than the Jetta. But VW also is adding on at the bottom of its lineup with the addition of the Polo, a small car positioned below the Golf (known as the Rabbit to us here in the States.)

A new-generation Polo is expected to debut at the Geneva motor show in March, and this illustration gives us a sense of what it will look like.

VW is planning to add the new Polo to production at its plant in Mexico, which makes it easier and more cost effective to sell in the United States. Expect to see the Polo in VW dealers here sometime in 2011.

The Cadillac XLR is nearing the end, and the 2009 model year will be its last lap.

“We’ve set in motion the kind of build-out of the car,” spokesman David Caldwell confirmed to AutoWeek.

General Motors is taking final orders now, and the last XLRs will be built this spring after a six-year run.

The XLR is built on the Chevrolet Corvette platform but uses Cadillac’s premium Northstar overhead-cam engines instead of the Corvette’s big-grunt pushrod motors.

The XLR traces its lineage to the Evoq concept car, which set the tone for Cadillac’s current edgy styling theme.

No special packages will be offered for the last year, and the car will be come in platinum and V-series trims.

The pending demise of the XLR means Cadillac is without a halo car of sorts. Caldwell pointed to the CTS coupe--which has been delayed till summer 2010--and the CTS-V, which went on sale about two months ago, as collective replacements for enthusiasts.

Those two cars offer more practical use, at least compared with the XLR’s two-seat layout, Caldwell said.

Still, he left open the possibility that a true roadster--likely low volume and high performance--could return to Cadillac. But at the moment, there are no known plans in the works. c

The drop-top version of the Nissan 370Z likely will bow at the New York auto show.

The convertible follows the coupe version, launched at the end of December. The open-air 370Z would arrive for the 2010 model year.

Stay tuned for more details on unique specs for the convertible. The coupe is shorter, wider and more powerful than its predecessor, the 350Z.

The new 370Z bowed at the Los Angeles auto show and gets a 3.7-liter V6 rated at 332 hp. A seven-speed automatic or slick-shifting six-speed manual with a feature called SynchroRev Match are offered.

The new, more sculpted car borrows styling cues from iconic Z cars of yesteryear, including the 1970 240Z.

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