A3 TDI Clean Diesel With S-tronic Front Wheel Drive: $29,950
Audi has finally put a price to their baby diesel: $29K. And the rest. So how will a thirty-thousand dollar oil-burning compact car fare in the American market? For Johann De Nysschen’s sake, better than the Chevy Volt. Of course, the 230 mpg (snigger) Volt isn’t on sale yet, while the 42 mpg (highway) A3 TDI will soon hit Audi showrooms across the length and breadth of this great, oil-importing nation. Which reminds me—as Audi constantly does—“the EPA calculated that if only one-third of the vehicles on American roads ran on clean diesel, the U.S. would use 1.5 million fewer barrels of oil each day.” So, let’s see . . . Wikipedia says there are 135,399,945 automobiles registered in the US. That means Audi would like to replace roughly 45,133,315 vehicles with clean diesels. With a little help from other automakers, presumably. Right?
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Hopefully this is Audi's plan to tempt BMW to bring its practical 5-door 120d or 116d or 118d or 123d. (This being the USA, I could see BMW bringing the super-sized 123d.) Offered with a stick, I'd find a way to get one of those.
"FreedMike : September 4th, 2009 at 12:54 pm krhodes1 : September 4th, 2009 at 10:40 am A zillion Europeans are rarely wrong. Explain World Wars I and II, then." My dear American, I do hope you have some more constructive contribution to this topic. Until then, you may note that you are far off the topic.
@ zaitcev : "The problem with A3 is, I want to drive my car, not have it sitting in the shop. When Toyota makes a diesel Lexus, let me know." Umm, Lexus started selling the IS220d ('d' for diesel) about 3 years ago. There probably will never be another one, but they realised that in Europe, you're dead if you don't have a diesel. Toyota also have a fine 3.0D4D engine in Europe mated with the HiLux truck and the LandCruiser 4WD (badged as a Lexus in the US I believe). It was this engine that the guys from UK Top Gear programme used to be the very first ICE powered vehicles to drive to the South Pole.
@Tricky Dicky : Umm, Lexus started selling the IS220d (’d’ for diesel) about 3 years ago. There probably will never be another one, but they realised that in Europe, you’re dead if you don’t have a diesel. Generally they had a good idea - aim straight at the best-seller on the segment (BMW 320d) and try to match the specs. The problem with the IS220d is that the execution is not that great. It doesn't hold a candle to the competition (BMW 320d, Mercedes C220CDI) in terms of fuel economy, performance or comfort - and it's pretty hard to find a Lexus dealer in Europe. Also: No automatic transmission option and no resale value.