Who's got the highest ranking in the German luxury car segment?

Motor trend reviewed all the usual suspects. The Audi A8 was first, the BMW 745 last. Out of 5. Behind the Mercedes, Lexus, Jaguar as well.

It is well known among Audi owners that their vehicles are the one's to beat wen it comes to overall quality and trouble free driving, not forgetting handling.

It is well known among Audi owners that their vehicles are the one's to beat wen it comes to overall quality and trouble free driving, not forgetting handling.

Actually, I know a lot of SCCA Audi women drivers that would easily clean your clock and the clock of your BMW any day on a track or mountain climb in their Audis. Save the sexist comments for YOUR wife. Audis are remarkable handling machines for true drivers. They hold the turns unlike anything else. I have driven both including the MB, and it is always the Audi that slices the turns with speed and agility. Quattro holds the road like no other. Unless, you ACTUALLY know how to drive, don't discuss which handles better because you don't know. Maybe your wife does though?!

Audi's are nice cars, finished beautifully, especially the interiors, but they are so non-descript. I don't get the A8 as a flagship car, it's a big, bland car with nothing in its design that stands out and gives it any real distinction. The interior is stunning.
The A6 is quite possibly the most boring car to look at ever, I never got how the automotive press went ga-ga over its styling. What styling? Good industrial design, yes, and if it was a refrigerator or table, well okay. But a car should have more emotional immediacy, Audi's have about as much emotion in their design as white bread. The new A6 looks a little better except that maw of a grill, what where the designers thinking, Moby Dick?
The A4 is the best of the Audi designs unless they go to that horrendous grill, yikes! The TT is worst of the lot, can you imagine if they add the "grill" to that lump.
Finally, it's nice that JD Powers recognizes that Audi's are the best of the worst (Euro cars compared to everyone else).
BW

I feel for the audi people when people make that comparrison. I own a Lexus and people, especially bimmer owners. First of all Toyotas and VW's are both well engineered and very sucessful brands for both companies. They are both at the top of the game, and have the sales figures to back it up. They both deliver the products that their clients want.

All they are saying is that Lexus and VW were created of platforms for companies that were leaders in their games.

Then you add all of the refinements that each brand contains and you have one incredible vehicle.

No, I do not own a 70k car, I can afford one, but I have no need for a full size sedan. If I were to purchase one I would look into the LS430, and A8 and skip the bimmer.

I have friends and clients that own the 7xx's and they do not like the idrive not the styling. However they do like the way it drives. The concept of iDrive is really cool, but most people in that market do not take to technology like that as well as the younger crowd does.,

somehow a portion of my post was deleted.

I was trying to say that people always jump to say that lexus, and audi make inferior vehicles because the are related to another line.

Here's a recent comment I just concerning the A4 facelift. It seams to really apply here as well:

BMW, which rose to dominance through the 80's as the top German brand, is starting to plateau slightly. They have enjoyed success due to their superb sport dynamics and good interiors. But lately have been surpassed by competitors in some key areas; namely interior quality, reliability, design choices (bangle), and of course the iDrive.

Then along comes Audi, perceived until recently as a tier two company along the likes of Saab and Volvo.

They now are in the middle of an extremely aggressive, 10 year, multi-billion dollar assault to unseat BMW as the top German lux brand.

Of course, Audi is currently selling a fraction of what BMW is raking in. But we are at the beginning of Audi's plan, which is only now starting to yield its first jump in sales.

Phase 1: The 2004 Audi A8. It rivals the BMW 7 series in virtually every department. The result: A stratospheric rise in A8 sales which will only continue to explode, plus almost homonymous praise in magazines as the best lux car in its class (this despite magazines unfairly comparing the long-wheel-base A8L to the standard-wheel-base 745i).

On the other hand BMW 7 series sales, while predictably good, have fallen short of manufacturer’s projections.

Phase 2: The new A6 and a bold new fleet design. Like the A8, the new A6 is the recipient of global acclaim; again rivaling it's BMW competitor: the 5 series. The new corporate 'shied' grill may be blasted in forums like this, but has in actuality enjoyed widespread acclaim. It's a hit, and soon to be a non-issue. Trust me on this one.

Phase 3: The completion of its product line with the aggressive new look, engine line-up, and cutting edge technologies such as the rear-wheel biased quattro. New models include the face-lifted A4, new A7 SUV, a new all-aluminum TT, and the 600+ HP RSR supercar.

Audi is not playing around. They mean business and are proving it with the astonishing rise to prominence starting only a couple of years ago. Remember, we're currently experiencing the beginning of Audi's relentless race to the top.

Within a decade, expect Audi to equal or even rival BMW and Mercedes as the top lux brand. There’re not messing around, especially with VW corporate muscle on their side.

BTW, I’ve driven both Audi and BMW’s and love them both. Up until recently BMW was easily my choice in terms of dynamics. But Audi won my heart as a car that looks better, feels better, and frankly is a more original choice than BMW. I now drive a 2003 Audi A4 Cabriolet 3.0.

Everyone here is referencing the 2 American magazine comparos that pit the A8L (long wheel base) against the 745i (standard wheel base). Amazingly, the A8L was STILL lighter than the 745i. But it's neveryheless comaring apples to oranges, resulting in the BMW slightly besting the Audi in terms of straight-away performance in those reviews.

A more fair comparo was done in a European magazine that properly compared the same wheelbase vesions of both the A8 and the 7. The result? The A8 outperformed the BMW.

I know these are just magazine articles, but so far, when the A8 is properly compared to the 7, the Audi wins in performance (while easily surpassing BMW's design, ergonomics, and build quality).