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Alas, no wagons among them, but Audi is launching four new diesel powered models for 2013, marking one of the biggest pushes for diesel in the North American market.
The A6, A7, A8 and Q5 will all receive a 3.0L V6 TDI engine, good for 240 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. The A8 will go on sale in the spring of 2013, with the other models following in the fall. Conspicuously absent was the A4 TDI, but if BMW ends up bringing over their diesel 3-Series, an A4 TDI should follow.
43 Comments on “Audi Launching Four Diesels For North America In 2013...”
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The Holy Grail Cometh at last!!
Why the big cars ? A 320d vs TDi A4 is overdue. Drove the 320 in Germany and have the TDi drivetrain in my Golf. Both great cars and there is a niche for clean diesel. Forget the Rabbit diesel or the GM debacle…The new ones are quiet fast and 40 real mpg
How much the price?
Any additional diesel options are good in my opinion. It’s just too bad that BMW, Mercedes and the VW group are the only companies that really seem to want to sell diesel powered passenger vehicles (that aren’t giant pickups) in North America.
A Diesel Cruze is also in the pipeline.
I think an A3 diesel would be the hot ticket…I drove a BMW 118d 4 door wagon in Germany a few weeks ago and it was a great little car.
They’ve been selling an A3 TDI here in the US for a couple of years now. It sold poorly though. The inside is kind of small, and the value proposition is rather weak when compared to cheaper, more practical choices like the Golf or Jetta Sportwagen.
Actually, the A3 was struggling in North America until Audi brought the diesel version. The TDI essentially saved the A3 here in The States.
Actually Audi sells all the A3s it brings over. Demand in Europe is high so we don’t get many.
I agree with the two rebuttals. I recently read that the take-rate on the TDI option on the A3 was over 50%. I just wish that the TDI could be had in Quattro form.
So my impression of the market majority for German cars are the “I’ve arrived” and the “I’m smarter than you” sets. Why else pay so much for a car? Oh and the “this is what the euros do”. So I see diesel appealing to the smart & euro set, but I don’t see the trophy wives wanting to pump that stuff. And if you don’t get cute-girl buy-in, then I don’t see this working. I see the affluent going more for Hybrid, or just sticking with gas.
I would have thought the same thing, however we bought a Touareg TDI this year and when we pulled it into the driveway, the neighbor ladies DID notice it was a diesel, specifically asked questions about the Diesel, the power, and the gas mileage and gave it the thumbs up.
As far as pumping the stuff, the Shell’s in the area that have Diesel are all clean and well kept (unlike some of the truckstops on I-80 etc). My wife loves the fact that she can (and does) go for over 600 miles without getting fuel. (That’s half as often as before and seems to make up for any potential hassle.)
A real trophy wife, by the way, would not stoop to pumping her own gas anyway… :-)
The “smarter than you” set are all for diesel. Unless you limit your scope of “smarter than you” types to those who really aren’t that smart.
Diesels used to have superior reliability, and were easier to repair. They were also smelly and noisy and some burned up their cars. That’s no longer true as far as I can see. Still, almost everything you can buy is now ridiculously complex, and very likely to last 120k before needing a fix that makes little economic sense. So, I see it as a matter of preference rather than smarts.
OTOH, many people not in the know are going to avoid diesels for the reasons that don’t really apply any longer.
Complex yes, but most of the new diesels have complex emission systems that are unlikely to go without issue for 60k miles, let alone 120.
What specific items would require service at 60K? Please be specific. I’d love to compare the armchair answer to people who have experience on BMW forums and things like that.
I’m one of the 20 or so people who bought a diesel powered (OM642) Jeep Grand Cherokee. I’m at just under 100K miles – the only issue I’ve had being a crankshaft position sensor.
The big advantage of this engine choice is – as mentioned – off idle torque. I’ve got around 450 lb-ft at 1300 rpm (GDE tuned ECU).
It also averages 25 mpg @ 65 mph and 18 mpg while towing 5500 lbs. The Hemi doesn’t even get 18 mpg unloaded!
So yes, I guess a diesel powered JGC is for those who might be a little smarter but don’t mind looking dumb?
You seem to have my wife pegged! She purchased a VW Golf TDI 6 speed manual a few months ago and loves it!
She would seem to qualify for all the ‘sets’ you listed. She is, more then likely, smarter then you, as she was a national merit scholar, dual major in college and off the charts on all the standardized tests.
She purchased the car within weeks of getting a big promotion at work which she earned by being the go to person that all the big dogs at the bank come to when their brains hurt and they can not figure something out. So tick off the arrived set.
She thinks the Germans (as a nation) are eminently more rational and practical then the profligate Amerikans. She speaks German and would move there in a heartbeat if it didn’t mean being parted from her family. So, check the ‘as the Euros do it’ box as well.
Personally, I just think she has good taste. She test drove civics, fits, insights, Mazda 3s etc. and concluded the Golf TDI was way more fun to drive then any of them, is comfortable, feels solid and gets great fuel milage. I just hope it proves reliable for her.
Lucky for you she has bad taste in mates!
@Karaya1 – Please tell me where to find such mates! Its hard finding people like that, now that I’m out of college.
Did your wife by any chance grow up on a farm, driving tractors :)
Nothing wrong with the Golf, but TDI fun to drive??? Compared to a similarly priced Speed3, Si, or even GTI…. I guess fun is subjective.
You must live somewhere where there are no diesels besides big trucks, which also would make sense with your biased view towards German cars.
Women often are the ones who want diesels. The chief diesels available in the US are Volkswagens (Jetta, Golf) and Audis (Q7, A3). Who do you think the majority of drivers of those cars are, if not women?
@gmichealj
Sometimes you really do get what you pay for, especially if you actually enjoy driving, as opposed to looking at it simply as a means of getting from place to place.
I get to rent pretty much every middle of the road dull but worthy sedan on offer in the US on a regular basis, and every time I get home and crank up my BMW I have a smile on my face before I get to the end of my driveway. Money well spent.
I too am glad to see the diesels come. Nice to drive and 35-40mpg is a great combination. I think what many miss is that a bigger modern diesel gives you that feeling of effortless urge that the old American V8s had, just with 2-3X the fuel mileage. Massice torque at low rpm and runs out of steam at 4500rpm pretty much describes every non-sporting Chevy or Ford small block, no?
“I think what many miss is that a bigger modern diesel gives you that feeling of effortless urge that the old American V8s had, just with 2-3X the fuel mileage. Massice torque at low rpm and runs out of steam at 4500rpm pretty much describes every non-sporting Chevy or Ford small block, no?”
No need for facts and relevant comparisons here, sir. How dare you?
Well, if you are going to tar us with a broad brush, you should also include folks like me – the “I don’t give a f*ck what anyone else thinks, I am getting the car I like” set – which seems to describe me and every other CL owner I have met.
A6 diesel appeals to me a lot more than the 2.0T
“The A8 will go on sale in the spring of 2013, with the other models following in the fall.”
The A8 will play catch-up to the S-Class and the rest are far enough into the future that if they never come, people will have forgotten that they were coming anyway.
5 door “sportback”???
GIVE ME THE TESLA MODEL S and a Diesel Generator.
In fact, for the cost of an S7, I could get a PErformance Tesla Model S, dual charger and 2 Diesel Generators!!! MUHAHAHAH
A7 looks a bit wagon-y, that could suffice..
Though an A6 Quattro wagon with the diesel would be sufficier..
In what way isn’t the Q5 a wagon? It’s not even that far off the ground. Definitely goes on my shortlist to replace my wife’s RX.
It’s about as close as it gets besides the Allroad here in the US. The Q5 has the same wheelbase as the A4, but is shorter than an A4 saloon.
What is up with this new slope-backed wagon design anyways. It looks like dog turd. It didn’t work on the Honda Crosstour. It didn’t work on the BMW X6 or 5 series Gran Turismo. Now Audi is going to rush in where angels get stuck knee deep?
You do realize that the A7 has been selling here in the states for over 18 months, right? Seems to have no problem selling either. Think Mercedes CLS and Volkswagen CC as opposed to the the X6.
You are right. I didn’t realize that. All I know is, the A7, along with the X6, Crosstour, 5-series GT, all look foul. They need to bring back proper stationwagens and not these half assed sloped tail wagons.
Granted, the A7 is probably the least offensive of the trio. But people really need to kill this trend before it spreads any further.
The A7 is going more for the 4-door coupe look, like the CC and the CLS, so I’d put it in a slightly different category.
For the X6/Crosstour/ZDX/5-GT, I’m not really sure what look that’s going for. Chopped CUV? Quasi-hatchback?
I think the A7 looks gorgeous. But I like the look of the Crosstour as well, so what do I know. Looks wise, I’m pretty much neutral on the ZDX. The X6, 5GT, CLS and Panamera all looks somewhere between silly and plain hideous.
“The Hunchback of Ingolstadt” – playing at an Audi dealership near you.
I am a fan of hatchbacks and wagons in general, but every time I see the X6/Crosstour/A7Spotback, I am reminded of my dear departed German Shepherd who dragged his butt on the ground when he developed a glandular problem.
Good, the Q5 could use a power boost. That 2.0T is fine in the A4, but the Q5 is big and heavy.
The Q5 has bigger engines than the 2.0T available. The Q5 also offered in the 3.2V6 from Audi in prior model years, and now offers the 3.0T from the A6/A8/Q7.
The Q7 already offers the 240hp 3.0 TDI. In Europe, the Q7 also offers the 6.0 V12 TDI, and used to offer the 4.2 V8 TDI for the first three model years.
Seems like Audi wants to market diesels as an upscale item – hence they are putting them into the high-end models which nobody really buys. Don’t really understand their logic. Aren’t the Jetta, Golf and Passat diesels selling quite well. In general, diesels aren’t going to make a splash here until other manufacturers bring them here. I’m looking forward to seeing how Mazda’s models with diesels perform and are priced. I also have to acknowledge a lusting for the Volvo diesel/hybrid V60. It seems like the (near) perfect blend.
Happy Thanksgiving to all the USA folks.
Jake
Jake,
I would argue the opposite: Buyers at the low end of the spectrum are more price sensitive than buyers higher up the food chain. Diesels add a good $1200-$2000 to the price of a vehicle. There’s a reason the take rate on the A3 and Q7 diesels is so high: those buyers aren’t as sensitive to the premium for TDI. That up-sell helped turn the A3 from a loss leader for Audi into a profit and image maker.
The A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 are substantially more profitable than the A4 and A3. Adding diesel to these will likely be very lucrative for Audi of America as diesels have become more palatable to American tastes. It’s also a stopgap measure as Audi’s electric and hybrid programs aren’t yet fully baked, yet their TDI program is very mature, reliable and economical from a manufacture, sales and support standpoint.
A real trophy wife, by the way, would not stoop to pumping her own gas anyway
an excellente observation dude!
and they dont care if the car burns 10 gal to a mile either.
My A3 TDI will get 37 average and 45 on the highway easy. However, the cars mentioned in this article are getting a V6 TDI, a very different engine, which won’t get anything close to those MPG specs, especially given the heavier total vehicle weight. We looked at the VW Toureg – 3Liter 240HP V6, only gets 20/29 rating on MPG.
After driving a BMW 335d recently, I gotta say I am a real sucker for the 3 liter class diesels. Give me 400 lb-ft of torque in a smallish sedan, fuel mileage be damned. I thrashed that thing for an entire day, and my fuel mileage was 26MPG for the run. I’m sold.