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There will be two heavyweight international auto shows within this month: the 2014 New York International Auto Show (04/18 – 04/27); and the 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (04/20 – 04/29).

New cars will debut in the New York auto show:

1. 2015 Subaru Outback;
2. 2015 Kia Sedona;
3. 2015 Nissan Murano;
4. BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe;
5. 2015 BMW M4 Convertible;
6. BMW X4;
7. 2015 Hyundai Sonata;
8. Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept;
9. 2015 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe;

New cars will be revealed in the Beijing event:

1. Acura TLX (with 2.4L and 3.5L engine, 9 speed transmission);
2. Lexus NX (with 2.0T turbo engine; and hybrid powertrain option);
3...

A Slovakian media has taken a photo on an actual Lexus NX300h production car, as shown below. It is believed to be the first photo of this model, except the official teaser image earlier last week.

The Slovakian website was taken down shortly after that, and we cannot access it at this moment.

Also it is confirmed that the Lexus NX will also debut a newly designed 2.0L turbo engine, which output will be around 243ps (approx. 240hp). When more specifications are available, we are insterested in comparing this Toyota turbo engine with the BMW/Audi/Cadillac 2.0L turbo engines.

From VW official press news, its Audi brand enjoyed a 21.1% sales growth for the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2014, total sales is 124,520 units. The hottest selling model is the A3 hatchback and sedan.

Audi has 2 factories in China, one in Changchun and another in Foshan. It is also the best selling luxury brand in China. During the full year of 2013, Audi sold 492,000 units, BMW sold 390,700 units and Mercedes-Benz sold 228,000 cars.

There are multiple factors that contribute to Audi’s success.

1. The most important reason is VW’s early entry in the Chinese market, and it is among the earliest foreign car makers that set up localized factories in China...

In part 1, we reviewed some basic knowledge of AWD system, BMW xDrive and Mercedes-Benz 4Matic system. Now we continue our discussion on Lexus and Audi.

Lexus: the IS250/350 AWD and GS350 AWD are using a planetary-gear center differential, plus a wet-type multi-disc clutch control to act as slip control. This is a very advanced and complex design. Because the multi-disc clutch can be 100% locked, it means Lexus’ AWD can handle the case that even front or rear wheels completely lose traction, than the rest side of the two wheels still have full power. The disadvantage of this design is it is complicated and the parts take space...

For US market luxury brands, most of their upscale sedans offer the AWD option nowadays. However, not all AWD systems are created equal. Before our review, let’s look at what goes into a luxury sedan AWD system.

Differential: this is a device to let both sides of output rotate at a different speed, and still obtain torque. For example in your front-wheel-drive car, your front wheels are connected with a differential.

Open differential: when one side of output loses traction, there will be no torque available at another side at all...