The 2012 Audi A6 has made an early debut in pictures, and is supposedly a fully redesigned model. Good luck spotting the new model when it hits GCC streets in a year though, because it looks like designers spent about 2 seconds photoshopping bits of the 2010 A4 and the 2011 A8 onto the existing A6 to come up with this design.
Car enthusiasts may know of the only Audi to make an impression back in the early 1980s. That car was the 1983 Audi Sport Quattro, a severely shortened version of the boring Audi Quattro Coupe, done so to better compete in the gruelling Group B rallies of the day. A “civilian” version of the rally car was required as per homologation rules. In an ironic twist, the designer of the Audi Sport Quattro has described the car as “bloody ugly”.
The last time we drove an Audi A3, back in 2006, our review fumed the German firm’s Middle East office so much that they stopped all contact with us since then, choosing to ignore the brown guys with the cute little website. While the joke is on them now, it doesn’t change the fact that the A3 is a dynamically-challenged car. After years of sitting on the market, Audi finally sees it fit to release an RS 3 version of the hatchback.
We were directed to this documentary video by a friend who lives in Saudi Arabia. Keen-eyed observers will realise that it was made in the United States, but while it delves on many stereotypes, it is wholly inaccurate on two counts — Saudis don’t dress like that, and Saudis wouldn’t ever want an Audi.
In their attempt to fill every possible niche with cars that looks pretty much the same, Volkswagen has launched the 2011 Audi A7 Sportback, a seemingly larger version of the A5 Sportback that is based on the A8 platform. The overall design is the usual copy-paste job that Audi is now famous for, with a slightly-distorted version of the A5’s rear end. And the engines are just the usual corporate VW fare.
Porsche is apparently threatening to sue Nissan in the United Kingdom over an ad campaign attacking the performance of rival German brands, also including BMW and especially Audi. It seems Nissan is also using marked rival cars to roam the streets.
The entirely-predictable Audi R8 Spyder convertible will debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. Sporting a cloth folding top, the R8 Spyder will only come with a V10 engine.
The Yokohama Rubber Company has announced that its ADVAN Sport tyres has been selected as original equipment for Mercedes-Benz C-Class models. The tyres adopted for the C-Class consist of three sizes: 205/55R16 91V, 225/45R17 91W, and 245/40R17 91W, the last being only for the rear.
Audi Oman has announced the launch of a new “90 Minutes Service” initiative.