Audi A5 to spawn new breed: Q5, R5, RS5 on their way

Audi unveiled the new A5 and S5 coupe at the Geneva Motor Show last week. Rupert Stadler, Audi’s new top man since January, said that the new coupes are a very important part of his plan to boost Audi’s luxury image and sales in the United States. It has been 11 year since Audi’s been without a premium coupe in its lineup, loosing market share to BMW’s 3-Series coupe and 6-Series, as well as Mercedes’ CLK.

But now things are about to take a new turn at the struggling German luxury auto maker. Audi will be starting a new breed of the ‘5' line. Usually, ‘S’ models of Audi cars follow the initial launch of its base model, but Audi released both the A5 and S5 coupe at the same time. Both coupes, Audi says, were more anticipated and popular than the R8. Stadler has already hinted at a A5 convertible, but The Car Connection is reporting that it is only a matter of time that the Q5 off-roader along with an R5 and RS5 will be a part of the ‘5' lineup. Even the upcoming A4 will take its basis from the new A5 coupe.
Read Article

JRobUSC - 3/12/2007 11:53:47 AM

-2 Boost

If the S5 is a performance A5 and the R8 is a little brother to the R8 then what would the RS5 be? A higher performance S5 or a higher performance R5? How are they going to price all these different coupes? There's way too much overlap here, they're going to be cannibalizing each other.

jmrA480 - 3/12/2007 12:51:30 PM

+2 Boost

the Rs5 will be a higer performance coupe then the S5, just like the RS4 is to the S4, and the R5 will probaly be a smaller mid engine version of the R8. The RS5 will be a 2+2 coupe, while the R5 will be a 2 seater. Price? we will have to wait and see.

BMW4me4ever - 3/12/2007 12:21:36 PM

-3 Boost

jrob .. that is what the group does best. I dont get it.

BMW4me4ever - 3/12/2007 12:30:06 PM

-1 Boost

I like the A5 and this it is a pretty sweet car, but what I dont get is their idea of over population with the car models. What is the point of the Audi TT when you are stating of coming out with a R5? Their exotic car is the R8. They should leave it alone. It appears like they are trying to capitalize on every Thousand dollar that is out there by producing models to fit in right before or past the other in regards to price. The only thing this will accomplish is loss of value and further depreciation of the name. I just dont get it with this group, VW, Audi & Prosche.

jmrA480 - 3/12/2007 1:07:30 PM

+2 Boost

The TT is a cheaper model then the R5 will be. The new TT is less of a chicks car then the old one but its still somewhat of a chicks car. The R5 will be a mid engine coupe compared to the front mounted TT and will be for people who love the R8 but cant afford it. Where the TT is more like the Boxster, the R5 will be more like the cayman , I presume.

They are just trying to appeal to more people with more models, if you go back before the Q7, all Audi had was 3 sedans, and allroad and the TT, compared to BMW and MB they were lacking in models.

Occarnut - 3/12/2007 4:59:51 PM

+2 Boost

BMW and MBZ have the SLK, Z4 cab and M coupe then step up to 3-Series and CLK then move up from there...the TT is very different than the A5 even if you option two of them to the same price.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/12/2007 6:10:27 PM

+1 Boost

That's like asking what the point of the M3 is when you already have the M Coupe?

It's obvious, really. The cars are quite different. I'm surprised you can't see that.

To compare the RS5 or R5 to the R8 is just stupid.

mitchatlexusofmarin - 3/12/2007 12:44:17 PM

+4 Boost

Audi is on fire. I love their products.The styling is in my opinion consistantly the best of any car company.

mitchatlexusofmarin - 3/12/2007 12:45:35 PM

+3 Boost

If you could make any money being there, I'd still be with them.

Larry - 3/12/2007 4:01:23 PM

-3 Boost

how many more times are you going to tell us this, we have seen q5, A5 news every week, some fresh news please, evrything is repeat news, or some silly commentary post with no substance, I am losing respect for autospies.

528i - 3/12/2007 4:41:07 PM

+2 Boost

Why you hating??

Occarnut - 3/12/2007 5:05:18 PM

+1 Boost

Well...there is that new Imperial coming in 2010...

Rupert - 3/12/2007 5:49:50 PM

+2 Boost

I can't wait for an A5 convertible.
PLEASE be a cloth top.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/12/2007 6:13:07 PM

0 Boost

Are we sure about the R5? It's obvious that the RS5 and Q5 are coming... but the R5 is still just a rumor.

To clear some things up:

A5/S5- 328i/335i competitors, also CLK350/550

RS5- M3 and CLK63 AMG competitor (mostly M3)

R5- Cayman S (or possible more powerful Cayman variant) competitor, probably mid-engined, making it the R8's "little brother"

Q5- min-Q7 cute 'ute. Competes with X3, GLK, XC60, RDX, etc...

chewy - 3/12/2007 7:40:51 PM

+2 Boost

Yep.

No conformation about any other R series vehicles yet. Just pure speculation on behalf of magazines/blogs.

Here is a quick handy list for BMW fans.
Audi=BMW (for most categories)
A4= 1 series 3/5 door hatch
A4= 3 series sedan
A5= 3 series coupe
S5= higher performance A5
RS5 (not yet confirmed but likely)= super high performance A5, based on previous RS series that means more performance/exclusivity than M series BMWs.
Repeat the same for A4
TT= Z4
TT S/RS= possible (but not confirmed) higher performance TT. But it is also possible that there will be only one higher performance TT to take down BMW Z4 M and Porsche Cayman S.
Q5= X3
Q7= X5
R8= ... (no current equivalent in the BMW lineup)

S4cabriofoxone - 3/12/2007 10:28:37 PM

-1 Boost

"A4= 1 series 3/5 door hatch
A4= 3 series sedan"

I'm guessing you meant "A3= 1 Series"?

Otherwise, it's about 99.9% sure that an RS5 will come out... you're downplaying that.

chewy - 3/12/2007 10:35:30 PM

0 Boost

Uhh, that is what I meant.

A3=1 series BMW.

The RS5 is very likely, but no formal announcement yet.

Larry - 3/12/2007 11:24:27 PM

-2 Boost

we talk about the same cars every week

chewy - 3/12/2007 11:30:39 PM

+1 Boost

New cars aren't invented every week. The latest ones like the A5/S5 usually interest people. So do future cars.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/14/2007 5:59:33 PM

+1 Boost

Why go to this blog if you're tired of this car?

Type707 - 3/16/2007 11:51:36 PM

+1 Boost

Sweet lookin ride...