This is good news.  Audi's A1 will be out in 2009 with an initial production of 100,000 per year.  How many of that number will feature the plugin hybrid option?  Hard to tell.  But VW also has a model based on the same platform.

Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, will produce a small new Audi at its plant in Brussels from 2009, meaning far fewer job losses there than previously announced, the German company recently announced.

The Belgian factory will exclusively manufacture more than 100 000 A1 cars per year from 2009 to 2016, securing up to 3000 jobs, although not all directly with Volkswagen.

The new VW Polo will utilise the same platform, codenamed Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) by VW and Audi company insiders.

  According to VW it won't be available in the US, but if Detroit automakers were each building  100,000 plugin hybrid vehicles like this  per year real oil savings would start to kick in.  This proves it's possible, which could put pressure on the big 3. 

With Cheney thugs out of the way, maybe VW would change their mind and introduce them here.  That's the challenge Detroit needs. 

With the rear axle plugin electric drive,  on a front wheel drive car already developed.  They could get to Obama's 1 million plugin hybrid target in a few years.

Ramping up mass production could 170 million be made over 20 years to replace half of present cars?  I think so.  The other half of cars could be replaced by bikes, mass transit, and walkable/bikable  communities.