Car and Driver Says Audi's A3 Sedan Has Delivered The Knockout Punch to the Mercedes-Benz CLA- The Gloves Are On!

I still prefer the looks of the CLA. I had a look around one at the weekend and in the flesh it has a certain presence that I doubt the Audi will have. However, the roads in the UK are bad enough, and if the Merc is that unforgiving in it's ride, then it might not be much fun.

The CLA wins, when a car looks as dull as the A3, it HAS to get stellar reviews, the trouble is, the majority of their target market isn't reading these reviews.

They want whats hot, stylish, and has curb appeal. Guys want to get laid and Chicks want to drive like Beyonce.

The CLA is THAT Vehicle, hence the waiting list and strained factory

The CLA's cheap interior and cramped rear seats along with awful ride quality will turn off buyers who expected to get S-class levels of luxury, space and cosseting ability just because the CLA has a 3-pointed star on the front.

Buyers probably haven't figured out those issues given that the CLA has only been out for 6 months, but give it another 6 months and the CLA's glaring shortcomings will be on full display.

Audi overtook Mercedes-Benz in global sales even with its conservative designs because its products overall were judged to be more appealing. The same will hold true for the A3 vs. CLA. While buyers may want that "look at me" image with the CLA, the day-to-day living experience will not be what they had in mind.

While the A3 Sedan may blend in, in terms of day-to-day living it is the superior vehicle against the Mercedes-Benz CLA. The A3's standard level of luxury equipment is higher, the optional technology is more advanced, the rear-seat head room is significantly greater, the acceleration is much faster and the driving dynamics are a lot more engaging.

This is what will win over buyers.

THe waiting list for the CLA is so long because Mercedes-Benz misjudged its supply and demand forecast. The timing of that mistake couldn't be any worse as tonight Audi launches its A3 Sedan will blowout parties in New York and Los Angeles.

If Audi manages to better match its production schedule to anticipated demand, you can bet the potential CLA buyers who were unable to get a CLA due to a lack of supply and don't want to wait 3 months for their custom-ordered version will go over to their Audi dealer and get an A3 Sedan on the lot.

@Germanut, master the art of summarizing because no one has time for your empty essays.

And remember Audi surpassed Benz only after beating them to the Chinese market. Now that Benz has established themselves in China, it's interesting to see Audi's gap diminish each month.

The A3 sells practicality not unlike many larger, better equipped, non lux vehicles in the market.
The CLA sells sex and it's working. The A3 will move units at the expense of the A4 just watch

Without the AMG appearence package the CLA is one of the ugliest cars on the road today. The A3 is a much sharper car and resembles a smaller A4. This is what you are aiming for in an entry level Audi. Mercedes makes very good cars that are very well built, however there is no question that I would rather take my $35k and buy a CPO C300 4matic long before I purchase a cramped and ugly CLA.

You know how everyone says it's a conspiracy or ad dollars at work when a brand seems to do no wrong in the automotive press? Last month, for about a week, Car & Driver had an article up about the A3 called "Less than the Sum of its Parts". It was negative, in fact it basically blasted the A3 as being too small, too chintzy inside, and too derivative of Audi's other vehicles. It was a negative article so I didn't bother trying to get it up on Autospies, but apparently I should have at least submitted it, because an interesting thing happened not long after it was posted -- it was removed. Now it's literally nowhere to be found, replaced by all the positive articles that paid Audi mouthpieces like Nuttie share over and over and over. Search for it on their site? Nothing. Google it? Nope. It has literally been disappeared from existence by... someone or something with enough money or clout to make that happen. I have no idea how good a vehicle the A3 actually is. It might be great. There are certainly plenty of positive reviews pouring in saying it is, and maybe they are right. But I also know someone who didn't like it wrote an article for a huge auto site, and that opinion was immediately silenced. Make of that what you will.

JRob, this is exactly why I take pretty much anything written by the automotive press with a grain of salt. It's getting ridiculous and I personally feel that Car and Driver is one of the worst offenders. Recently, I've seen many contradictions, in their own write-ups and scoring, to justify placing a certain car under a certain light.

For C&D,without naming specific brands or models, a few examples are, and these aren't exact quotes: X car interior built to incredibly high standards but scored a 7 in fit and finish, X car having disconnected steering but called out for having exemplary steering when placed on 10Best, one online article being negative towards a model but the published article stating almost the complete opposite (not the A3, but I find it interesting the same thing happened).

Motor Trend also has contradicted itself. Two recent examples: citing one car's track and road characteristics in a certain way and comparing it negatively to another car's track and road characteristics, then in another comparison of different cars, doing almost a complete flip flop and citing what was previously negative as positive, and what was previously positive as negative.

Not to mention where both mags had two separate comparison tests where they compared the same exact models. In one comparison of certain cars, for C&D a certain car came in last place. For MT, the same car came in first place. In a second comparison of a different set of cars, a certain car came in first place but for MT, yet came in last place for C&D. BOTH polarized results involved cars from the same company. Ironically, for both tests, the cars that placed in the middle placed exactly the same for both publications, in the same exact order. Glean from that what you will.

Is someone writing a check to effect results? Who knows. Is a writer or judge's subjective perspective impacted by outside influences? Not sure. But I've found these inconsistencies to be getting worse over the past decade. I started reading all the major car mags in the US almost 30 years ago and, typically, they were pretty consistent with each other. But now are they not only inconsistent in their opinions, though they claim to be looking for the same things, they are inconsistent with themselves.

Looks kind of stubby. I prefer the hatchback.

JRob, why can't you just understand that Audi has built a fantastic car with the new A3 Sedan, which many reviews believe is a better overall car than the Mercedes-Benz CLA?

Car and Driver has been huge Audi fans for a while, so this should no be surprising at all. The Audi S6 beat the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and BMW M5, the Audi S4 has beaten the BMW 335i, the Audi A6 has beaten the BMW 5-series and the Audi A8L beat the BMW 750Li and Jaguar XJL - all in Car and Driver comparison tests.

Audi is being praised pretty much universally for creating hugely desirable and competent vehicles that are better than their BMW and Mercedes-Benz counterparts.

It might be a tough pill for some BMW and Mercedes-Benz fans to swallow, but there is no doubt Audi is on a roll. The highly-respected car magazine comparison test results and global sales numbers prove this.

Nuttie you kill me ... And you forgot that the 328i sedan has bested the Audi A4 in every comparison, the E92 M3 bested the RS5 in every comparison & recently the M5 sedan took down the Audi RS7, Panamera turbo, and Jaguar XFR-S ... The S4 was bested by the 335i which those cars are a dead heat. I will give you that the A6 has bested BMW 5-series more times lately

Also you forgot that BMW's I-drive is rated far superior to the MMI of Audi. There hasnt been any recent full size luxury car comparisons done lately , yet that will change with the New S-class here

You are missing the point, Nutmeister. The point isn't whether Audi is making good cars or not (if anything I'd prefer they do, since competition forces everyone to make better cars). My point was I think it's interesting that a dissenting and negative review of an Audi product was literally wiped off the internet without a trace. That's hard to do, buckaroo, and it doesn't just happen. It's worth someone asking the question. In fact YOU should want the question asked and answered, since it makes Audi look complicit and corrupt.

BMWm4, perhaps you forgot the Audi RS7 beat the BMW M6 Gran Coupe and Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG S-Model in a Car and Driver comparison test:

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2014-audi-rs7-vs-2014-bmw-m6-gran-coupe-2014-mercedes-benz-cls63-amg-s-model-comparison-test

JRob, I think you should stop worrying about conspiracy theories and just realize that Audi has improved its products immensely over the last 5-7 years and the comparison test results and global sales figures have recognized Audi's improvement.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/car-comparison-tests/v-8-supercars-the-comparison-65-7-roa0314

BMW M5 bests them all and this is the most recent comparison test ... chew on that for a little bit.

Here's another, where the M6 is the victor
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/6-series/85204/bmw-m6-gran-coupe-vs-audi-rs7-sportback

JRob, maybe chew on this quote from Car and Driver for a bit:

"Then again, Audi continues to demonstrate a propensity for doing things right—from chassis tuning and engines to styling and ergonomics. If the company keeps this up, the conspiracy theorists will assume there’s a new source for all these sacks of cash we use as ottomans."

how about instead of C&D being touch in cheek about getting paid (which you know is happening, just like Audi pays you to troll blogs all day) they just explain where the dissenting article went? Or, hey, crazy idea, put it back up? Again, the A3 might be a great car, but it looks pretty shady for a negative article to just disappear, smacked down by the hammer of VW's advertising dollars. If that happened to a negative article about BMW you'd be calling for Congressional hearings.

Very small market. Audi is hot now, but nothing lasts forever.....

This is what I absolutely love about Nuttie. He (or she) is the first person to point out all of the publications giving positive reviews to Audi. But when there is a negative review, he/she finds every reason to discredit that publication. Or he/she makes no comment at all. Denial is a horrible thing.

So, here's the thing. After many years of Audi doing extremely well in almost all automotive publications, why do their sales continue to lag behind significantly in NA? Yes, they continue on a growth streak, but Mercedes and BMW continue to grow as well, and unit-wise, moreso (less percentage-wise). Do potential buyers have a reality check after test driving the Audi? Clearly, it's not for a lack of advertising or marketing or positive press or dealership networks. For some reason, they're not making products that are truly connecting with potential buyers at the same level as MB or BMW. That's just reality. Sure, they're leading globally, but that's heavily weighted on China sales. It does make you wonder how can a full line of a brand resonate so well with "industry experts" yet not so much with "actual buyers"? And whose voice (or dollars) is the most important when all is said and done?

cidflekken, your comments couldn't be further from the truth. Audi's leading global position and 3rd place position in the U.S. is more about how China has come to dominate the global luxury sales market and Audi's foresight to get into the Chinese market early on. What does it tell you if Audi can trail Mercedes-Benz and BMW by a 2 to 1 margin in the U.S. and still hold the global sales lead? China is the key to the future.

Look at the luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton, the private jet manufacturers and the yacht builders scrambling to sell to the Chinese.

Perhaps Audi doesn't need to resonate as much with U.S. buyers if it can continue to resonate a lot better with Chinese buyers. After all, it still leads sales globally YTD even by trailing by a huge margin in the US.

People are hugely underestimating the impact of Audi's A3 Sedan and Q3 SUV on the U.S. market (and globally). The CLA's booming sales will decline because the A3 Sedan is a superior overall product. Audi already enjoys excellent brand perception in China and leading sales status. With the A3 Sedan, Audi will further build on its momentum in the all-important Chinese market.

"Furthest from the truth"? Funny how your comments support exactly what I said. Your obsession with Audi has made you so dilusional you don't know what you're reading or writing anymore. I did say that Audi was dominating in China, which accounted for their global lead (at the moment). On that note, are you even aware of how Audi's domination in China came about? If not, I suggest you read up on it. It's not as phenomenal as you want to make it appear. The reality is that Audi's dominance in China is not the same story as why they're being trounced in North America. The other reality is that Mercedes is fixing their marketing and dealership networks in China, making for substantial gains in that market. Even much more substantial than Audi is making in the US. Once Mercedes makes up that gap, then what's next? What excuse are you going to find, then?

Here is what I find the most amusing about your comments: They directly coincide with what I said your responses are to automotive publications. When an automotive publication gives props to Audi, that publication is 100% correct in your eyes. If a publication places any other car above an Audi, that publication is wrong. So, in your eyes and written words, China is right and North America is wrong.

No, Car4Life, the CLA sells because there is no competition yet. Once the competition arrives it will be a totally different story. As for A3 sales stealing A4 sales, it couldn't be further from the truth. The single, 25-30 year old buyers on a budget without a need for much rear seat space will get an A3 while the married 28-mid 30 something couples with a dog and/or a kid will get the A4.

Dealers will make sure to make the differences clear and transparent between the A3 and A4.

Cidflekken, Mercedes-Benz is benefitting from it's product timing. Audi and BMW have not launched their entry level models yet and the CLA, A, and B-class models have already been on sale. Once Audi launches it's A3 Sedan in China and the U.S. Audi will make significant headway on it's percentage growth. Don't forget Audi's Q8 and Q6 models will continue to add to it's sales figures.

Mercedes-Benz is taking advantage of a gap in the product launches of it's rivals but that time is rapidly closing.

Give these Haters Hell GermanNut! Will see this A3 at the NY Auto show this month.

Audi is dominating right now. 2014 is just the start. 2016 will be even more Audi.