All new 2007 German Cars

That New Audi A4 sure looks nice. I like what they have done with the grill.

Keep in mind Acura had these lower side grills first.

The whole shape of the front bumper is borrowed from the upcoming Acura spy pics we've seen.

No I think the facelifted (B7) is better than the (B6) that came out as a 2002 model year. The question is the new one shown here (B8) will be a 2008 or 2009 model year.

The A4 should be sweet. The VW coupe looks very nice as well.

What have they done with the grill? It looks like the lights have changed.

Also, did anyone notice the Ocean Drive is a 2 door instead of a 4 door. I think a 2-door CL convertible is more plausible (CLC anyone).

Once again Audi copy another Acura, what's worse the thing is not even out yet.

Copy which Acura. The RDX and MDX (and the Civic) copied the A4, and the Q7. Or at least the A4 and the Q7 came out earlier than the new Civic, RDX and MDX.

The Audi does look very nice. But check out the profile of the Passat, because I don't think it's a coupe. VW talked about releasing their version of the MB CLS, and I think this might be it. I may be wrong, but this car looks like it has four doors.

The Passat is a 4-door coupe likethe MB CLS.

Exactly! But ppl still troll about copying and all this BS.

a4 looks good.
but the passat coupe has a 4 door shut-line...will it have 4 doors? will it exist?

They're photoshops so who cares?

Sheesh.

Chewy,

Your concept design show your dirrection, not when you come out with it.
Why do you think they us camos?
when did the A4 came out with those lights?
when did Acura/Honda use these lights on their concepts?
Now you are going to tell me that Acura copy that front bumper look from Audi/VW?

All of us have seen these Acura spy pics for over a year now with this bumper look starring the side grills cut at sword angle.

I am talking about the rear tail lights of the Audi A4 (that was spied in September 2004
http://www.worldcarfans.com/spyphotos.cfm/spyphotoid/6040902.001/country/gcf )

That the new American Honda Civic shares in common, very much in common. The Honda Civic came out in September 2005.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2050901.005/country/jcf/honda/the-life-of-honda-civic

Now the Audi Q7 was first spied in December 2004.
http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/9054/spied.html

Look at the tail lights of the Audi Q7 and now look at the tail lights of the Acura RDX and MDX.
The Acura RDX concept was first shown in Detroit in January of 2006 and it went on sale in April of 2006. So the Acura RDX (even in concpet came out way after Audi Q7)
http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2060110.004/country/jcf/acura/acura-rdx-concept
Don't the RXD prototype tail lights look like they are from the Audi Q7?

The Acura MDX concept drawing were released in March 2006. When the Audi Q7 was long on sale.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2060328.004/country/jcf

So in the end, the Honda Civic tail light came out after the Audi A4 (facelift) and look very similar. The Acura RDX/MDX came out after the Audi Q7 and have very similar tail lights. But then again, they say that copying is the most sincere form of gratitude.

C-Class is looking good!

True, and also why are so many people caught up in the what brand is better than what brand or such car is faster than such car by .1 or .2 sec. to 60 mph. Is not much of a differnece

I would like to hear more comments on what type of new engines or new technology these new cars will have.

Silverarrow2,

a car's design is finalised years before it comes to market, and often a design theme is created years before that- in other words, a manufacturer such as Audi cannot 'steal' a design from a recently-debuted car, because even then the entire Audi model line has already been thought out.

Just because you can spot 'similarities' between two different cars, doesn't mean it was 'copied'.

No manufacturer wants to copy, they want to be seen as innovative. Car designers try very hard to come up with a unique look.

Only the Chinese blatantly copy existing designs.

a car's design process starts about 5 years before it launches. the actual design will have been finalised 2-3 or even 4 years before the launch. then they build one, and start testing things, first engines, then gearbox, then suspension, then durability, electrics, colour schemes, marketing and advertising. there will be continuous tweaks to the design eg if in durability testing the gearboxs shreds itself it will be modified, but not too much so that it changes the tooling needed or the feel of the gearbox. last minute changes are often poorly executed ie with the merc A-class and the elk test, it was way too late, so mercedes had to make drastic suspension changes, affecting ride and handling.
so basically, the next z4 has already been designed. they will start making it a "real" design soon, so it complies with things like crash rules and how much space it has. bmw already knows how the Z4's roof will fold and what it will essentially look like.

also, cars look similar because of laws. headlights being a certain size, distance from ground, rear lights being a certain size, brightness and distance from rear window, pedestrian protection affects bonnet height, lots of things.
bentley continental gts have plastic grills now, because of pedestrian crash regs.

Matthew, thank you for the knowledge.

One more thing... What ever happend to Toyota/Lexus before now? (Earlier disigns)

I'm sure Mercedes will disagree with you.

Oh, for pity sake, get over the childish petty arguing over who took whos' design cues!! Most of the larger manufacturers, except Chrysler & Lincoln, have pretty decent looking cars. No excuses being made for my opinion, I think Chrysler (300C) and Lincoln (CST) look like a slab at the front end. I agree with "byhsu" bring on the interesting stuff ... like new more advanced FSI & TFSI engines from Audi. Of course not forgetting their fantastic TDi Diesel line-up as well. I can't for the A5 launch. This looks like being a fantastic car. Waited a long time for Audi to bring back a coupe in this segment.