Comments on: Audi Australia sales jump 30.2 percent

By: BMnotW

BMnotW — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:37:01 +0000

Chucky – the suburb I live in has almost the opposite stat in terms of LED fitment :) but thanks for info – I’ll make sure I check the option box if its not standard on top of line Q5 …I suspect in these hard times its something that could be strongly negotiated with dealers anyway …

By: Grant D

Grant D — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:24:15 +0000

OK Alex, I’ll confess to a little bias here. I own a 5 week old A4 1.8T Multitronic with the full exterior & interior S Line Sport Pack (& Chucky, I’ll also confess that it has the optional Bi-Xenon headlights with the LED Running Lights). I traded my 3 year old B7 model A4 in on the new one & I couldn’t be happier. I looked closely at the IS250, C200K & 320i as the pricing is almost on par with the A4. I drove both 320i & C200K & thought them to be excellent, although I much prefered the C200K. The trouble was that my previous A4 had been a great little car & when I sat in the C200K I just thought the interior fit & finish was sub Audi standard, I didn’t like the fake leather seats or the foot operated parking brake either or the fact that it only had a 5 speed auto transmission. I think emotion & individual choice rule your decisions at the end of the day & for me I was really happy with Audi & I just couldn’t go past the new model A4. I know that not everyone likes Audi’s & that’s OK with me, to each his own I always say. But I’m sure if I’d bought the Benz, BMW or Lexus I would be totally happy with any one of those too…..but I just like my Audi.

By: MB

MB — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:26:37 +0000

Audi have been pumping out good cars for years eg Audi 100 CD was a great car that nobody seemed to get in Australia.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:28:40 +0000

I agree with Jon (1) in that Audi are finally receiving the recognition that the package has deserved for years.
My 5 year old A6 twin turbo is still the best car I’ve owned and as good as the day I collected it.
Do not wish to sell it but high depreciation levels in the eyes of Australians is not deserved. Great Deutsch build quality and bullet-proof handling. A worthy product in the same vein as the great AutoUnions of the 30’s. Quattro is brilliant in every 9/10’s situation on a wide selection of Aussie roard surfaces.Congratulations on sensational package choices and the individuality of the marque.
Reagards Jon (Mayfield)

By: jon

jon — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:47:47 +0000

Audi deserve the recognition they are getting and I guess the sales are proving that. I have read most of the sensible comments on here and I agree with some but as far as the rear wheel drive vs all wheel drive goes, all wheel drive wins hands down. Think about it, our roads in Australia aren`t perfect and lets face it, most performance tests are done on a race track on near perfect surfaces and yeah all wheel drive has no advantages but on normal roads where the surfaces aren`t perfect and not to mention the rain, all wheel drive is the winner you can push just as hard in the wet as in the dry and after owning an AWD car i won`t ever own anything other than AWD

By: Chucky

Chucky — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:15:18 +0000

Those LED headlights in the picture are not standard. They are a $2,200 option (included with Xenon lights), and out of the dozen or so A4s I have seen on the road I haven’t seen a single one with that option.

By: BMnotW

BMnotW — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:25:27 +0000

Looks wise the Audi has really gone leaps and bounds – they use to look fairly plain but the new shape is really sharp and those LED lights just set it apart. I do like the new 3 series shape on BM’s but they are EVERYWHERE now … I use to own a kitted MY2000 323 and loved it … but so many 3 series on road now its almost like BMW taxi territory in Germany.

My BMW pick from performance/value perspective is easily the 135i – then 335 then M3.

Now if Audi can tune those driving dynamics a litle further then the motoring journo’s would get off their back ..but until then the BMW’s hold an edge … at least when you are driving them at 9/10th’s ..for everday driving for everday driver I dount they would really notice the difference :)

I have family now so will be looking seriously at the Q5 3.0D when it arrives in April (Q7 is way too big of a tank) – that thing should honk for a family wagon and should be well priced given volvo X60 and BMW x3 are sparring price/feature wise right now – I suspect around $75k on road for the 3.0 version – fingers crossed ….

the other car than I will look at next is TT-RS – if they get this right (performance / price wise) it could give the cayman or at least boxster S a decent run for its money … may not have badge appeal but may be a fantastic drive (think R8’s little nagging brother than won’t get our of its rear view mirror on the twisties ;)

at this rate audi have a bright future

By: MB

MB — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:48:05 +0000

Chris….not helped when hire car companies off load there A/3/4/6’s on to the used market.

Dont get me wrong Audi’s are fantastic cars but the premium cost of a TT-S over its opposition let alone a 2.0 TT (plus chip enhancement) is just not worth it. Let alone the 3.0 TDi against the 2.0 TDi

By: CHris

CHris — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:59:03 +0000

I have to agree with MB having owned both an Audi A4 and 4 3 series Bmw’s and working in the motor industry, Audi’s do have the resale value of a half eaten meat pie. I admit in any prestige car its not good, but in audi’s case its quite bad (With the exeption of the TT)

By: Frontman

Frontman — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:46:36 +0000

Amussing comments all! But face facts, Audi (and for that matter VWAG) are one of the very very few marque’s to have had global sales increase this year. So for all the faults that everyone here can find in them, they must be doing something right. :-)

By: pious

pious — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:33:37 +0000

I think the Audis are getting far better looking with the facelifts, and are getting more good press for the performance models. BMW and MB are going backwards in appearance at a great rate of knots. I am not a fan of Audi, but I’d take one over a BMW, just on looks. Maybe that is helping with the figures.

By: MB

MB — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:31:05 +0000

Considered purchasinga TT-S recently but with options factored in it was $119K. Given a TT RS is on the way I will be waiting. However Audi do no favours to their customers with their short model lifes and poor resale. the discounts they ooffer on runout models is poor as well. Besides if I want to drive an Audi I can always hire one via Delta Eurocar

By: The Realist

The Realist — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:06:49 +0000

Myke Says:
January 7th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
\”BMW don’t consider Audi a rival or threat because they aren’t RWD, I kinda agree. Why pay extra for a glorified VW (apart from the R8).\”

I agree too. Did you ever read the interview with the Australian BMW Group CE who said they only had two direct rivals here, one was from Stuttgart and the other from Tokyo – nicely worded indeed.

Grant D Says:
January 7th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
\”Alex, you must be joking! I think you have got the BMW tunnel vision spectacles on mate…..a 320i a better drive than an A4 1.8T? Clearly you have driven neither car to make such an outrageous statement.\”

I have driven both, and the Audi is still nose heavy with lighter steering feel. Looks great though, inside and out. I\’d still take the Bimmer between these two models.

By: Cupid Stunt

Cupid Stunt — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:24:00 +0000

They certainly are Alex. I love Audis, the A6 Avant I had couple of years aho was nice to drive, out handled by a Mondeo but nicer to cruise in. I happily buy an Audi again but like the 3 series they are just too common over here. My bro has chopped his A4 for an Alfa 159 Wagon on the same grounds.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:53:20 +0000

Grant, yes I have driven both and recently too. I drove a new model A4 1.8 T when it came out and have driven a 320i touring quite a few times as a friend has one and although I liked the engine in the Audi more, I found the BMW to handle better and be generally more fun so I found it quite easy to forgive the engine, everybody knows BMW 4 cylinders are a formality anyway.
To Captain Mainwaring, although I think Audis are great, as a drivers car, they aren’t really better than a BMW especially the performance ones. I know Audi puts something really excellent out every now and then (RS4, S3) but it’s widely thought that the M5 is still miles ahead of the RS6 despite the power disadvantage and BMWs in line sixes are still better than Audis V6s. Not to mention the cornering/handling. On a fifth gear test between the Audi S5 and the BMW 335i, the 335i won despite the power disadvantage and I believe it was a 50 bhp disadvantage too. Quite a lot really and it all came down to the handling. I think technically BMWs are still better even though I like both brands completely equally. In fact, if anything, I like Audi more.
And don’t forget that all the BMW driving wankers in the UK are all going to Audis now. It’ll come to Australia and New Zealand eventually.

By: Grant D

Grant D — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:14:03 +0000

Alex, you must be joking! I think you have got the BMW tunnel vision spectacles on mate…..a 320i a better drive than an A4 1.8T? Clearly you have driven neither car to make such an outrageous statement. Why don’t you read a few of the comparison tests on websites like drive.com.au or wheelsmag.com.au & get clued up on the real story. Cheers!

By: Captain Mainwaring

Captain Mainwaring — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:47:22 +0000

Myke, that’s an interesting argument, but it may just prove that Chinese tastes (Communist or not) are ahead of those of Australia. Either that, or Audi/VW have massive manufacturing joint-ventures in China which BMW and Benz do not. This is actually is the real reason for what is happening in China.
More importantly, you also need to recognise that BMW in NZ is a factory-shop branch of BMW AG (which should give them an advantage), whereas Audi is a locally-owned distributor.
Maybe, perhaps, just could be, some customer preference going on here.

By: Myke

Myke — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:33:57 +0000

Captain that has nothing to do with anything. Audi outsells BMW and Mercedes in China too, by a lot. are you going to argue Audi are communists aswell?

By: Captain Mainwaring

Captain Mainwaring — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:17:35 +0000

The Audi story just proves how slow you Aussies are.
In NZ, Audi outsold both BMW and Mercedes in 2007, and again in 2008, by an even wider margin.
I guess it’s the old story: class beats crass (especially when you have a discerning market).

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:48:20 +0000

And I forgot to mention, that’s purely an ECU upgrade – no exhaust, turbo or intercooler mods.