Audi's plan to pass BMW

"AM" (ap18961)
05/31/2015 at 12:52 • Filed to: None

Is to have 50 different models/variants. That is absolutely insane! They’re supposedly going to have the A1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 which will have some models having different variants such as Sedans, Coupes, Avant and Allroad. Then they’ll have the Q1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8. On top of that, add an S version to every model plus the RS models for some. Plus the R8 and the TT which is supposedly going to have a coupe and a shooting brake variant. Also, there’s the Sport Quattro concept they’re supposedly going to make.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

That’s a lot of god damn cars for 1 brand.

DISCUSSION (26)

daender > AM
05/31/2015 at 13:02

They better be careful, if they get too divergent they might have competition between their own models but if they can work each little niche well, then good on them.

TheHondaBro > AM
05/31/2015 at 13:04

NOOOO PLEASE AUDI DON’T DO THIS TO MEEEE!!!!!!!

AM > daender
05/31/2015 at 13:05

Agreed, they need to be very careful with this plan. It's Audi though, they somehow manage to pull off everything they try.

AM > TheHondaBro
05/31/2015 at 13:06

That’s literally almost as many models as all of GM combined if not more.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AM
05/31/2015 at 13:12

So still no plans to fix VW I see

AM > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
05/31/2015 at 14:08

Audi is where the money's really at, VAG likes money and will do anything to get more even if it means ignoring its own VW brand.

Rico > AM
05/31/2015 at 14:31

I’m interested in seeing the Q4 and Q6 will look like. It’s obvious they are going to make X4/GLC Coupe X5/GLE Coupe competitors so I want to see how well they’ll pull it off.

AM > Rico
05/31/2015 at 14:35

Yeah I’m pretty sure the article said the Q4/Q6 will be their answer to the X4/X6. Hopefully they can pull it off because people's actually buy the BMW ones. Now the Mercedes ones are pretty scary looking but Audi only seems concerned with beating BMW.

Uncle Bob > AM
05/31/2015 at 17:51

They’ve already passed BMW in some respects.

They seem to be the luxury car of choice these days for the yuppies who don’t care about how their car drives and just want the perception of driving the “in” luxury car for people in their 20s or 30s.

Merc still rules for middle aged people.

AM > Uncle Bob
05/31/2015 at 18:10

IMHO, BMW has lost their touch and their current lineup is only made for people to buy so they can show their status and wealth.

Merc makes the best luxury cars but they do have more of a middle aged man image to them. Audi doesn’t seem to be phased by Merc though which I always found so weird.

Uncle Bob > AM
05/31/2015 at 18:15

The only reason BMW isn’t dead to me yet is their M cars and M Sport cars. And they still offer manuals in more models than other companies do.

But their run of the mill 328 or 528 lease specials are total pieces of shit. People buy them only to show their status and wealth. An automatic 328 or 528 without the sport suspension is so boring and tame that it has nothing to do with BMWs of the past. They are just comfy cruisers, and Merc is better at that anyways.

AM > Uncle Bob
05/31/2015 at 18:36

Even half the M cars don’t appeal to me anymore. I think the last M car I truly loved was the 1M.

I agree with what you said about the 328 and 528, some people only care about brand image. They’ll even take a base 320 over a loaded Lexus/Infiniti/Cadillac just because it has a BMW badge.

Dslay04 > AM
05/31/2015 at 19:05

Plenty of beige to go around

Uncle Bob > AM
05/31/2015 at 21:32

The M2 will be awesome. I’ve test driven an M235i manual and it was great. I look forward to the M2.

I like the E9X M3s. Not because they are classic M3s, because they are not. They handled more like a Mustang than an M3. But at least BMW gave us bespoke motors for the first time in a long time. We’ll probably never see bespoke motors again. I know the S65 and S85 had their fair share of problems. But at least they were special. They gave the masses near-Ferrari like sound and performance at a fraction of the cost. And now that the E9X M3 is getting cheap you can buy it with plenty of money to spare for future maintenance and repairs.

Hahaha so true that some people will take an automatic base 320i just for the badge. So silly!

It’s not just BMW though. Everyone is sucking these days. The new Ininitis are nothing like the great ones of the past. When the G35 first launched it was a great car. Just enough luxury and lots of sportiness for a good price. Now the cars are so disconnected from the driver.

I wish Mercedes made manual transmissions for the US. They have been improving their weight distribution and chassis dynamics. But I’m starting to loathe any form of automatic, including DCTs. I’m not ideologically opposed to them. They just get boring.

AM > Uncle Bob
05/31/2015 at 22:59

I’m hopeful that the M2 is just like the 1M was. If so, it will be another truly great car.

Car companies do seem to be slacking though. They seem to be going for style and luxury rather than speed and driving dynamics.

As for Mercedes, I believe the only manual you can get is in the 4-cyl SLK, which nobody really wants to have.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/01/2015 at 16:23

I def think it will be. The M2 should be as good or better than the 1M was. It should be a riot!

Haha yeah the SLK. I think you can only get the slowest version with the manual. Which is a bummer. I think Mercedes crammed some big engines in the SLK at one point.

AM > Uncle Bob
06/01/2015 at 16:32

I just worry that’s it’s going to be too packed full of electronic assistance and technology. That’s such a turn off for me and every new car is full of it.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/01/2015 at 18:50

Valid point. Hopefully you can turn all the nannies off. As long as you can then it’s not too big of a deal.

AM > Uncle Bob
06/08/2015 at 18:46

If you can turn them completely off then that will be awesome! Mercedes has this trend where the nannies pretend to turn off but as soon as you get any wheel slippage it cuts back in.

Also, for some reason I feel more in control without the nannies than I do with them.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/08/2015 at 19:31

I know what you mean! Sometimes nannies make the car more dangerous.

Some cars cut power so abrubtly to provent spins that the loss of power can be dangerous on its own or surprise the driver so badly that he gets shocked and does something that makes the situation worse.

AM > Uncle Bob
06/08/2015 at 19:49

I agree, it can cause a dangerous situation if the driver is inexperienced or not expecting it to happen. Some people will panic when their vehicle cuts power which causes them to overreact. I personally just get pissed off when power gets cut but I learned to drive with no nannies other than ABS.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/08/2015 at 20:10

I think it’s a MUST for all high power performance cars to have user - adjustable levels of nannying. Some of the exotics do this and it’s nice. If you’re confident in your driving ability but still want some assistance you can use the race setting.

I do like ABS. It’s the one safety feature that was totally worth it. The world is much better off with ABS. A lot of people didn’t know what to do when their brakes locked up prior to ABS.

AM > Uncle Bob
06/08/2015 at 20:18

Having fully adjustable levels for the nannies is a feature that most cars should have. As you said, those with confidence in driving ability would be able to turn them down to make less interference.

Again, like you said, ABS is the one feature that is undeniably worth it. I'm sure it has prevented a lot of accidents since it came aboard.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/08/2015 at 21:48

ABS is so great because even if you’re a good driver it can save your ass when you weren’t expecting to have a hairy situation. For example driving at night and braking right as you hit a patch of water that you couldn’t see due to poor lighting.

AM > Uncle Bob
06/08/2015 at 22:02

It works wonders on wet roads. Sometimes it enages when it doesn’t need to though. For example, there’s one intersection that has a small dip right before the light so every time I stop at that intersection it goes off just before I get to the line.

Uncle Bob > AM
06/09/2015 at 15:21

Yeah it’s not perfect. But probably does more good than harm!