Audi A5 Sportback and A8 officially confirmed for 2009

Man, these sportbacks and 4 door coupes are such a great way to make money. You take an existing platform and existing engines, add a sloping rear roof and a $20k price increase, and va-laa!

A modern wagon that is trendy. This is awesome and wished that more Americans would warm up to this style of car. Lexus had its Sportswagon in the IS, but dropped it for this market (sad). It's good to see that Audi is making strides with their model line (A3 Sportsback, A4 Avant, A6 Avant) so the trend continues but in a hatch form in the Sportback. Ford Flex has began to catch on, Dodge Magnum is doing well and Cadillac's Sportswagon is on the way. I'm sure there is more, but slowly this style of car is coming around.

Hahaha, it's an Audi Panamera.

Actually that is the upcoming A7 Concept which will compete with the CLS

At least it looks better than BMW's 5 series GT.

What do you care?
It's in Europe.. where Lexus is totally insignificant...

LOL! You are sooooo misinformed. German growth in Europe was 70% last I checked. German cars are one of the fastest growing cars in Europe because of handling and heritage.

david969:
you obviously haven't been to germany, maybe you should get across the pond and see that your japanese auto bias has no basis, vw still is the people's car in deutschland.

david969;

Your beloved Lexus may be exciting to someone upgrading from a Toyota. And the reliability argument no longer holds water. Just look at the difference in the reliability ratings between number 1 and number 10. It is statistically negligible. The reliability message from ToyLex is wearing thin. Just look at their recent recalls.

StarSearch. Platform sharing is one thing. What ToyLex does is rebadging. Just lookup the Toyota Harrier and Toyota Soarer.
And why does reaching down market make a brand less desirable? We are not talking about snob appeal here. We are talking about brand heritage and engineering history.

umm, the european car companies are by far more exciting than toyota/lexus not only in how much more exciting their cars are to drive, how enthusiastic their customers are, but also in news coming from the companies. In regards to reliability, the european car makers (especially very recently, as documented by consumer reports etc) are actually quite reliable (much more than in the past) but no, not as good as #1 buick #2 jaguar and #3 Lexus (2009 jd power dependability) with BMW, Porsche, Audi etc with "above average reliability." Not to mention reliability (IMO) is not one of the top factors in determining if a car is good or not (unless it is grossly unnacceptable) especially since reliability is a quality more associated with appliances like dish washers etc. Which leads to why the average toyota/lexus drives like an appliance; no emotion, no soul. Thats why if Lexus threw a party it would be a bore: Lexus isnt exciting/ at least 95% of its owners arent true enthusiasts

@david969:
The "Europe" you mention is mainly UK which is a small part of Europe.
In total Europe, Lexus sales dropped 16% in 2008.
Globally in 2008, Audi outsold Lexus 2.5 to 1 (1,003,000 vs. 430,000).
In China - the fastest growing market, Audi outsells Lexus 4 to 1.

First off, when Lexus celebrates it's 100 years then we'll talk. Well not us, we'll be dead and maybe they will never get there anyway.
Mrlemon guy, if you want to know, actually the Panamera uses many electric and electronic components from the C6 platform (current A6), so maybe the Panamera is an Audi coupe? :-)

The honest reason why I joined this site (aside from being a car enthusiast since childhood) is to share in the commentary with the rest of you -- I really enjoy the banter, david969 - you're definitely the little David -- certainly the minority in this group. FWIW - a good friend is in LA on a press tour reviewing the ISC and agrees that it doesn't have a "soul." I appreciated my Solara for its practicality but love my 335Ci for its handling and sportiness. I implore you to get the behind the wheel of my car and then drive the ISC at 150 and see which handles better. It got me a speeding ticket and the officer wrote me up for 99+ on I-280 but no regrets, no car vibrations and solid like a tank.

Congratulations to Audi on its 100 years "celebs" coming up this July.
From "Horch" to "V16 Auto Unions" to "NSU's" to "Quattros" to the "quest for lower aerodynamic drag" to "best quality interiors" to "individualism across the range", it has been one beautiful journey of "vorsprung durch technik". Result? Audi sits up there alongside Mercedes-Benz and BMW. I cant wait for the new Audi "Ah-Acht" - A8. Should be a "thing of quality".

Happy Birthday Audi!!

isaacu