Audi announces pricing of new models

Finally, the convertibles receive the new powrplants,and restyled design.

I don't really keep up with Audi but this is very bland. Is this really a redesign? A car is more than just HP and sporty performance.

Logical: compared to what?
Only convertible in its class available with AWD.
They have improved: Brakes, Suspension, Steering, Engine and more.
The A4 Cab sells very, very well; this one will sell even better!!
It is also much more aggressive looking especially with the S-Line package.

logical

Well, they did raise prices, by several thousands actually, but you still get a very good value.

Great value Chewy - until you hit the resale market, then the value mysteriously disappears.

D3WADE: We care because we are enthusiasts, otherwise shut this site down.

The Audi convertible is a dog - a fabric roof in a world where others, even VW have, or are, shifting to a hard top. Maybe the Audi will attract some former Saab convertible owners but it doesn't get me excited.

Jtrash- it is a catch up of the refresh but everything that makes it go fast, stop, or turn is greatly improved. Remember the convertables follow about 2 years after for most german comapnies. If you want to see the new A4 B8 then this is a good link

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/secret_new_car.php?sid=74&page=1

Cpillar the resell of all convertables are not as good as the sedan (a4, 3 series, etc) but for the most part Audi has good resell value.

CPILLAR- If you look at the Black book values and residual % then Audi is within one point of BMW and well ahead of MB.

D3WADE- the A4 cab is not a total new model and will not be replaced for a year (convertable 1 or 2 after that) If you drive the new Cab you wouldn't say that it is a dog. REmember hard top convertables have been out for years. I hope Audi dosen't do a hear top. It makes the car two heavy and takes up a lot of room. The only thing that i want to improve in the old convertable is the engine and this car solves this problem.

hear=hard

Evilhomer

Huh? I am confused about how you are defending the resale value of Audi as in comparison to BMW. The Audi A8/S8 depreciates about 5 to 10% faster than any other high line luxury sedan except a jaguar ... The Audi A4 is not within 1% ( maybe in residual on a lease, but anyone in the auto industry knows that the residual value on an Audi doesnt reflect the actual value ) ...

About the conv., I am actually surprised that they are now as expensive as they are. The fact that there is no hard top and more expensive. The Audi 3.2 which will compete with the BMW 328i and xi conv starts at $46,950 + $720 = $ 47,670 is pretty expensive. The new BMW 328 will be larger, have a retractable hardtop, faster, handle better, & be available with all wheel drive, & have full maint for all service work .... If you look at the base price of the 328 coupe, one would understand that the BMW conv should have a base price of about $ 42k to $ 43k .... I think Audi has missed the boat with this one.

merc basher....folding hardtops are expensive, heavy, ruin the boot room, legroom and often the looks.
and the m-b clk is a fabric, mercedes decided to, they could have easily made it hard top but it ruins a good cars looks.
the eos doesn't exactly look elegant does it?
i'd pick it over a clk based on the clk's ridiculous price, but until i see proper pictures of the new 3 convertible, i'll refrain from judgement.
why don't lexus have a competitor in this market? they could clean up big time.
toyota have a model in the us don't they? looks a bit like the sc from the back?
don't get it here, no idea why, i'm sure it would sell.

BMW4me4ever: The A4 3.2 Cab is Quattro only, that is why it is a little more!!
The A4 Cab will have a new soft top that will be even thicker than the current model that already has a thick top.
Metal roofs are too heavy and take too much space and hurt the center of gravity of the car.
The A4 3.2 Cab Quattro will be the same price or less than the 3 series cab, and this with more options.

Also, let me assure you that the 7 series depreciates fater $ to $ than the A8 does...I'm in the business so I know.
And the A4, especially with Quattro has very good resale value.
The current Cab is selling very well and the new one will be even more of a hit.

BMw4me4ever - if you compare the A8 vs the 745 the resell is good (the 750 is less then one year old)

yes the 10 year old body style A8 (1993-2003) is not as good but who cares? Resell is not that good on any A8 or s class or 7 series that is the nature of the car.

Resell over all is not bad for Audi (I know because I sell them) there are brands that are bad but MB, Audi and BMW are not it.

So what is the point?

Alextx- i can't even get TT's because the resell is 2 high (to many retellers at the auction)

Like you said the A4 is great, the A6 could do better but when we start seing the new body style (less then 2 years old ) start hitting the used market it should be great.

The old A6 was a totaly diffrent car that was sold on lease payments like $399 and that undercut the market for that car.

Bmw4you4ever- residual values set by the company in WA state (that all bankes use as a guide to set their own residual) are very good guides of resell value. If you look at BMW bank or Audi bank then the vaules are distorted because they "mark up" their residuals ti help sell cars. If you look at BofA or USbank they go more off of the real expected resell values of the cars.

One last point is who cares the car is great and all the BMW fans can do is worry that Audi is doing better every year and that others can be happy driving other cars.

BMW fans don't worry you can still buy BMW even as Audi does well. Remember as Audi does better (at it is) it helps the whole german auto world.

Enjoy your Coke-a-cola and I will enjoy my Pepsi (we all know that Pepsi is better )

The more I hear BMW fans come into the Audi world and complain the more I know Audi must be doing something right. If Audi didn't matter then you wouldn't worry. I don't go into the Saab chats and worry and tell then how Saab sucks and Audi rocks because I am not worried about Saab. Get the point?

Audi is going the CLK route
look at hpow pricy is CLK cabby while the first CLK was so much cheaper , BMW will go that route too , cause ppl still buying the CLK even thru it sells soo much more than a C sedan == makes more money easier

thats why bmw wanted to call the 3 series coupe the 4 series, but the rover 400 already had 418 and 420, so that rules out those models
audi is calling the next one the a5, to make it "different" from an a4.
it works for merc, why not audi?

evilhomer ...

You are completely worng with your estimation of the resale value of an Audi compared to that of a BMW. Usbank & bank of America are used to figure the residual of a car in order to calculate a lease. 90% of off lease cars do not have the same valuation as the residual value. You should have some understanding of this. Most people that lease should realize that a company can greatly affect the payment by either offering a better money factor or by upgrading the residual rather than offering money back. If you are going to bring up those sources as a reference then you should know that ALG ( Automotive lease Guide ) states that the average BMW depreciates 54.5% after 3 yrs and 45k miles on it. The same guide, if I am not mistaken states that the Average Audi depreciates 49% after 3 years and 45k miles on it. The rankings for cars is 1. BMW 54.5% - 2. Lexus 53.1% - 3. Honda 52.5% - 4. Acura 52.1% and so on ..

People in the Auto industry use Manheim Market report ( only available to people with dealer licenses or dealer access ). This is an up to date accurate account of the valuation that cars are bringing at live auctions .... no matter which Audi you would like to compare with BMW, the Audi will have a far less valuation of it .....

AlexT .... Let me clear somthing up. I am also in the business. I have been a senior sales associate with BMW for about the last 11 years. My brother is one a the head technicians at an Audi dealer in the midwest and has been so for about 3 years now ... I am very much intune with what values car have and the pluses and minuses of them. There is no way that a BMW 7-series depreciates faster than an Audi A8 .... Ex: as of 8/1/06 an Audi A8 went for $ 42,500 ( '05 with 20,132 miles on it ) vs a BMW 745li $ 53,200 ( 05 745li with 24,382 miles on it on 8/2/06 ).


I still believe Audi has missed the boat on the conv thing in regards to pricing. It is too much money for a slower, smaller, soft top conv w/o and maint. program for a company who is trying to gain momentum on BMW in the market share. Audi has made it difficult on themselves in order to compete fairly. I think the Audi A4 3.2 conv should be priced in the low 40's in order to be competitive ... Someone brought up mercedes, but it is Mercedes and they can seem to do what they want cause they will always sell cars.

BMW4me4ever...
Depends where you live.
In some States the A8 has a better resale than others.
How much is a 330i Cab?
Isn't it close to $50k loade up??
Audi used to offer the A4 3.0 Cab FWD, but when they introduced the Quattro version it sold better even though it was more money because of CA, CO and other States.
I bet you when the new 3 series cab comes out the price will go up to and you'll be able to get an A4 3.2 QUATTRO cab for the same price, but you get AWD.
The A4 Cab is bigger than the 3 series cab for interior space and trunk. It's no slouch and with the new 3.2 it will be quite capable.
i can tell you that in Tx, the A4 Cab is very, very, very competitive.
It sells very well and we don't have to "whore them out". We just wish we could get more in stock.
The CLK starts at $49k with no options and it's smaller than the A4 Cab...that's expensive.
Good car, but expensive.
You'd be surprise how many people don't car much for the Free Maintenance; they care more about Cup Holders.
It's still available for only $550 and the 5k is still covered.
BMW will drop theirs too in a few years...no point on keeping it. It just costs $$$.

alextx,

I used to work in texas with BMW for 5 years. Anyways, right now the Audi cab is bigger than the BMW, but not when the new 2007 arrives in the spring. it will be based off the new coupe that was just introduced. It will be 5" longer and about 1.5" wider with a longer wheel base and such. I would expect the new conv to start at around $42 to $43k for the RWD and $45k for the awd version .... That will still be less expensive than the Audi ... I still believe that Audi missed the boat on this one. It will be very hard to sell against the BMW conv & coupe which are debuting. BMW is really going to capture and have a stranglehold on the market.

bMW4Me4Ever - I resuidual is just a guess of what the resell value will be and yes I haave used Manheim Market report for years (almost every day) and you will find me at the Riverside Aucition about onece a month ( for the audi sale if i don't use their great online auction) I am amaized at the prices that most audis go through the lines for.

I will set a price of what I want to buy a car for and next thing i know the starting price is over it. happens all the time.

Beleive me Audis are realy taking off in the used car market. The $$$ is great and we have almost 200 % better sales of certified cars/ The bigest problem we have on our Audi lot is getting enough cars to sell.

Manheim is no value for used cars.

BMW4ME4Ever- you are right manheim is a good guide just like Black book or KBB but Audi does good in all

BMW on your last post -

it is good to see that BMW is less money then Audi. For years I have heard customers say "I could buy a BMW for that much" more and more I see people saying they bought the Audi (even though it is more) because the like it more

Right now the A6 has a higher lease payment then the 5 series but we are selling them well

Right now the RS4 has a money factor of 3.5 and we can't keep them in stock RS4 $1,400 a month M3 $800 a month AND PEOPLE WANT THE RS4 MORE

The A3 has a money factor of over 3 and a base lease is about $500 a month but they are flying off the showrooms

The A4 is a good lease but gone are the days of the under $400 with no cap reduction.

If Audi wanted to give their cars away just to maitain volume then would but they are slowly growing the brand in the USA all the time.

The RS6 was a $1,800 l;ease payment all day long and we sold every one we could get.

So i guess my point is Audi is doing well with their cars and it is good to see people paying $$ to get one.



Just 2 years ago A A6 S line 2.& Twin turbo loaded was $ out of pocket $399 a month WOW Audi has gone upmarket FAST and done very well with it.

don't forget the A5 cab and A3 cabs are comming out and will do well

Stranglehold? give me a break
stop drinking the koolaid just for a day or 2

BMW4me4ever:
Just like when the A5 will be coming out, it will be longer and wider than the current one and will be on par with the new 3 series.
Being longer over all does not mean bigger in the inside.
If the current 330ci Convertible starts at $44,900, I highly doubt that the new one will be less, especially with AWD!!
The A4 3.2 Cabriolet Quattro starts at $46,950.

no AWD it is quattro!

evil ..

The point of the fact of this article was the pricing structure of their cab's. Audi's do sell well, but I am tired of hearing from people on this website that they are going to catch BMW in the next 5 years. I find it amazing on how that is going to happen. You point out how well the RS4 sells compared to a M3. Huh? They havent made the M3 since May production. The new one wont be out til March of 2008. BMW does this by design. They always introduce a new M car 2 years after a new body style. It is called resale value. This is something Audi doesnt really know much about. Find me an Audi that holds the same resale value as a BMW. Comparing same class cars and then we can talk. Not even the Rs4 can compare to the resale value of the M3. I just took in trade a 2007 RS4 with only 1500 miles on it. The customer paid $ 73,500 I believe. The trade value 2 months later was $ 63,500. This is supposed to be audi's number one performance car. It is phenomenal car. Probably the best Audi I have ever driven. it is still $73k for a performance A4. That is a pretty good amount of money considering someone could buy the S6 for the same money or go with a Audi 4.2 for the mid 60's.

alextx ...pay attention ...

the 2006 330cica started at $ 44,900 while the coupe version in 2006 started at $ 37,600 ...

The 2007 328 coupe awd starts at $ 37,100 and the RWD coupe starts at $ 35,300. For as long as I have been selling BMW's, the conv in comparison to the coupes have pretty much been about $7k more. That would mean that a new 2007 328 conv ( RWD ) should start at $42 -$43k and the ( AWD ) conv should start at $44 - $45k ... This would make the BMW less expensive than the Audi cab. One would know that being in the business over the last 3 to 4 years or so there is a growing trend for retractable hard top conv. With this in mind I would expect the 335 conv to start about the $ 48 - $49k range ... would make the 300hp 335 conv a very attractive conv in the market.

I think Audi build a very nice car. They excell in the quattro system for the best AWD system on the planet and they have some of the nicest interiors available in the luxury car segment. They are too pricey for what they offer in comparison to the competition which is namely BMW, Mercedes & lexus. Mostly BMW... A great interior will only bring you so far. Or a phenomenal quattro system... It will be hard for audi to compete with the BMW 328 and 335 conv ...

You can get the 2.0T Cab with Quattro for 41,900. You say that the Audis are too expensive for what they offer, but when you look at at $50k BMW, you still have to pay close to $500 for Rear Folding seats.
Audi is still less expensive than BMW option to option.
Base price is one thing; but what do you get with it as well?
You can have a lower base price and then cough up $$$ for options, which what M-B does pretty well.
I really like BMW too, but I have a preference for Audi.
They just put a little more attention to detail in their cars. When you open the trunk of an Audi vs a BMW there is a huge difference. Audi puts first class material even in the trunk. In the BMW, it's a little better than a Toyota.
I was amazed how "cheap" the door of a Z4 sounds when you close it. That metallic sound was not right for a $35k+ car.

We traded for a RS4 2 weeks ago for $68k; client paid $73.