The Audi Thread of The Future Until 2012

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GTjazzabrandy

GTjazzabrandy

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Audi has a lot of new cars coming out soon as seen is this Internal Document

Models coming out in the near future include..

The A1

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The A2

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The A3

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The A6

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The A7

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The A8

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The Q3

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The R4

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A lot of new interesting and exciting models.
 
Looks like they're going the way of BMW and trying to fill every possible niche, including gaps between their own models.
 
The A1, we knew it was coming, and there probably is a market for it (though if there really is much market room below the A3 remains to be seen...), the A2 is a terrible idea. The A7... not sure... is it supposed to compete with the 6-series? (7 is more than 6? Should be successful then... :lol: )

The Q3... well... we knew that one was coming... even before it did.

The R4? Terrible for Porsche. Makes the TT recdundant, too.
 
The R4 is to be mid-engined, isn't it? The actual R4 photo looks it, but the concept certainly doesn't.
 
There are like 4 different design directions for those cars.


Is the R4 an Audi version of that presumably canceled MR thing that VW was working on?
 
niky
the A2 is a terrible idea
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Depends how they price it. The original A2 was genius and pre-empted the whole eco-car movement by years... but they priced it out of it's potential market. Partly because it was made of aluminium, but then that was what helped it get ridiculously good fuel economy. And the aero. It's also reported to have the best steering of any Audi short of the R8.

So yeah, if Audi have worked on the aero and the weight but intend to be sensible with the price, then it might have a good car on it's hands.

The only trouble then is that it doesn't look as good as the last A2, nor does it look as good as the A1 which no doubt will be able to achieve similar economy (unless they do the typical VAG thing of making it weigh more than Everest).
 
Therein lies the problem.

The A1 already covers the subcompact end of the spectrum below the A3... an A2 would simply confuse the issue. Possibly a lot because it looks like it would be Volkswagen based, which means that it would make both the A1 and A3 look spectacularly cramped.

In the end, it might end up like the B-Class. not small enough to be considered a city-car like the A-Class, and not quite as sleek as the C-Class. Perhaps Merc's most practical small car in its line-up, but not a very loveable one.

If they were to clear space for the A2... maybe by making the A1 available exclusively in a three-door arrangement instead of spawning a whole range of cars... it would work. As it is... too many products on too many platforms... which means good sales... but a huge amount of overhead for redundant products.
 
niky
Therein lies the problem.

The A1 already covers the subcompact end of the spectrum below the A3... an A2 would simply confuse the issue. Possibly a lot because it looks like it would be Volkswagen based, which means that it would make both the A1 and A3 look spectacularly cramped.

In the end, it might end up like the B-Class. not small enough to be considered a city-car like the A-Class, and not quite as sleek as the C-Class. Perhaps Merc's most practical small car in its line-up, but not a very loveable one.

If they were to clear space for the A2... maybe by making the A1 available exclusively in a three-door arrangement instead of spawning a whole range of cars... it would work. As it is... too many products on too many platforms... which means good sales... but a huge amount of overhead for redundant products.
Click to expand...

The funny thing is, by that render alone (which appears to be a photoshopped VW Up!) judged against what I've seen of the A1, I'd actually expect the A2 to be smaller than the A1. The original A2 was roughly the size of the original A-Class, and the A1 doesn't seem vastly smaller than the original A3. That doesn't leave a lot of room for manoeuver, unless the A2 is actually smaller. Or at least a significantly different shape - which it appears to be.

Plus, the A1 is going to be a MINI/MiTo/500 etc rival. It's going for the prestige, style-conscious small hatchback market, and to me that leaves space for the more eco-oriented (yeah, I know Audi have said they aren't going for the eco thing but at the end of the day their platforms and drivetrains are VW ones so they kind of have to do the eco thing, albeit indirectly) small car. Like the original A2.

Put it this way, it leaves the door open for the A1 to be as impractical and stylish as it likes (read: MINI) whilst the A2 does the economical and spacious thing.

It's just Audi doing what everyone else is doing and filling niches.
 
homeforsummer
The funny thing is, by that render alone (which appears to be a photoshopped VW Up!) judged against what I've seen of the A1, I'd actually expect the A2 to be smaller than the A1. The original A2 was roughly the size of the original A-Class, and the A1 doesn't seem vastly smaller than the original A3. That doesn't leave a lot of room for manoeuver, unless the A2 is actually smaller. Or at least a significantly different shape - which it appears to be.

Plus, the A1 is going to be a MINI/MiTo/500 etc rival. It's going for the prestige, style-conscious small hatchback market, and to me that leaves space for the more eco-oriented (yeah, I know Audi have said they aren't going for the eco thing but at the end of the day their platforms and drivetrains are VW ones so they kind of have to do the eco thing, albeit indirectly) small car. Like the original A2.

Put it this way, it leaves the door open for the A1 to be as impractical and stylish as it likes (read: MINI) whilst the A2 does the economical and spacious thing.

It's just Audi doing what everyone else is doing and filling niches.
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Sort of like the B-Class / C-Class synergy, I suppose. Only smaller.
 
You could say that. The thing is, the niche had already been there, Audi just priced themselves out of it before. If they'd released the old A2 today it'd sell like crazy at the right price - as demonstrated by the fact that A2s are like gold dust on the used car market at the moment (to put it into perspective - A2s start at about £3500 minimum for a 2001 car with a basic 1.4, 75bhp engine. Audi A3s with 1.6 and 1.8 engines from the same year start at a whole grand less...). There's quite a market for upmarket, fuel-efficient cars that don't look like a Prius. Audi's mistake was releasing theirs a decade too early...
 
Super-economical small cars always suffer when gas prices go down... not enough power and not enough space (for the buying public)... then come back into vogue secondhand when prices go back up... yes, now would be the right time to launch an A2... but it'll have to be luxurious to justify the badge. (Imagine... saying that about an Audi twenty years ago... )

I still don't see it happening unless they make it as versatile as a Honda Fit or a Merc B-Class. Not when an A1 with a TDi will (well, should) net you some ghastly high economy figures already.
 
niky
Super-economical small cars always suffer when gas prices go down... not enough power and not enough space (for the buying public)... then come back into vogue secondhand when prices go back up... yes, now would be the right time to launch an A2... but it'll have to be luxurious to justify the badge. (Imagine... saying that about an Audi twenty years ago... )

I still don't see it happening unless they make it as versatile as a Honda Fit or a Merc B-Class. Not when an A1 with a TDi will (well, should) net you some ghastly high economy figures already.
Click to expand...

If the A2 is going to be based on the Up! models though there's a difference between very high and ridiculously high fuel economy. VW are hinting at the latter for the Up! range.

Luxury is relative too. Regarding the A2 and A3 I mentioned before, to me the A2 would be the more "luxurious", though perhaps not in the stereotypical sense of loads of kit and swathes of leather and wood. What the A2 does have (and in common with the much maligned A-Class) is loads of space and a good, confidence-inspiring driving position. The A3 is a bit of a coal-hole in comparison - feels "chunky", sure, but a bit too much of a black-hole to feel luxurious.
 
homeforsummer
If the A2 is going to be based on the Up! models though there's a difference between very high and ridiculously high fuel economy. VW are hinting at the latter for the Up! range.

Luxury is relative too. Regarding the A2 and A3 I mentioned before, to me the A2 would be the more "luxurious", though perhaps not in the stereotypical sense of loads of kit and swathes of leather and wood. What the A2 does have (and in common with the much maligned A-Class) is loads of space and a good, confidence-inspiring driving position. The A3 is a bit of a coal-hole in comparison - feels "chunky", sure, but a bit too much of a black-hole to feel luxurious.
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well... given the precedent set by the A3 and the 1-series... it seems development people equate "affordable luxury" with black leather straight jackets and iron maiden-sized interiors (in other words... small and pointy)... :lol:

A wait and see for me...
 
You forgot the A9, but it's only available in the Amazon Market.
 
Man that A4 looks good. Announce pricing please, might have to get me one
 

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