Audi Ramps Up For Expanded RS Models and Sales

it's a shame that audi is diluting its own premium brand. now every kid with enough money will buy a rs1, 2 or 3 if they come out.

i thought audi is trying to be a tier 1 luxury brand?

it's bad enough audi is associated themselves with vw. and now even the rs badge won't be exclusive anymore.

stop making cars so that everyone will have a audi badge and rs badge, especially if audi wants to move up from being a tier 2 luxury sports brand.

Audi IS a Tier 1 brand.

Tier 1:
Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz

Tier 2:
Acura, Cadillac, Infiniti, Saab, Volvo

"it's bad enough audi is associated themselves with vw."

How so? VWs are brilliantly engineered cars with high style and satisfying performance for the masses.

and toyota's and honda's are "brilliant" cars for the masses. your point is?

What's yours? Mine is obvious. VW makes excellent cars that serve well as bases for three Audi cars (A3, Q7, TT). I didn't mention Toyota and Honda. I'm just talking about the Germans.

Check your FACTS. I didn't pull that out of my ass. It's the world's tier status. Just because Jags don't sell, that doesn't mean they're not amazing cars. Ever driven an XJ?

THE WORLDWIDE TIERS OF MASS LUXURY BRANDS (not Porsche!):

Tier 1: Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz

Tier 2: Cadillac, Infiniti, Saab, Volvo

Tier 3: Acura

BTW, these aren't based on sales. They're based on whether or not the cars are sold in global markets, and of course, how desirable they are.

So instead of posting my OPINION like you, I simply posted what is actually true. What a concept!

“amazinBimmer” I know you sometimes have troubles trusting the Audi guys but seriously though, this is coming from me now...Audi, Lexus, & Jag are all tier 1 luxury companies with models ranging over $100,000.

Porsche isn't even really considered a luxury brand, they make sports cars that come with half the standard options an Audi, Jag, or Lexus would. Sure you can equip a Porsche with most luxury options offered by competitors, but that's only after you've paid enough money to buy you another cheaper car.

my point is that vw is not a luxury premium brand.

vw is just like toyota. and by associating itself and sharing platforms with vw, audi will have a long way to go to convince world that it is in the same league as german luxury brands such as mb and bmw.

plus, the key here is that audi is planning on rebadging cheaper audi models as rs or s. cheaper audi models shouldn't exist in the first place as it dilutes the brand, but by resurrecting models like rs2 and s3, audi destroy the current interpretation of the rs and s badges. perhaps back in the days when audi and vw were analogous terms, but certainly not nowadays if audi wish to compete with mb image wise. the truth is that the rs and s badges have move up a notch in image, and there's really no reason to bring it back down by introducing cheaper rs models...

quattro will never become what amg and m gmbh have become.

Good point. Although AMG's image is questionable recently, they at least try to regroup by releasing black series.

amazinBimmer is so dumb its hilarious.

Audi is the only company of his Tier 2 companies that has had a V12 flagship for more than a year.

Audi is also the only car company of the Tier 2 brands to produce more than one high-performance (RS) variant, in fact Audi has had two models with the RS6 and RS4 from Quattro GmbH.

Audi is the only car company out of amazinBimmer's list of Tier 2 brands with more than one model priced at over $100K. Audi currently has two with the Audi A8L W12 and the R8. This will soon be three cars when the R8 with V10 debuts late next year in 2008. In fact, Audi has just as many cars over $100K as BMW does with their 760Li and M6 convertible and will soon have more.

Aud is the only Tier 2 brand according to amazinBimmer who's average income of buyer's is higher than BMW's.

There is no point in making up data to try and take down cold, hard facts, amazinBimmer.

If you want to argue at least bring reliable factual information to the fight.

I think we all saw this move coming from Audi as they seemed to have, & are holding back on going all out on future S models, for example the next-gen S4 won't likely see an increase in HP & the S5’s power has been kept a fair distance under the 400hp mark.

I see Audi taking more of an AMG approach with the RS line-up for the future, as mentioned will likely see a Q7 RS variant...very cool.

Also one question, will the TT get an S model as well or just an RS model?