#Audi

Sixty-five grand doesn’t fetch you what it used to, it seems.

Yes, sure, prices inflate over time, we all know that. But even accounting for that fact, and even accounting for the fact that electric vehicles are commanding premium prices and likely will for the foreseeable future, I was nevertheless disappointed with the experience of being loaned a 2022 Audi 50 e-tron quattro* for a week.

The idea of a compact, sporty entry-luxury crossover is appealing.

It’s a sort of a “have your cake and it too” proposition – you get the utility of a crossover, but it’s also fun to drive and at least a little bit upscale. Sure, it’s expensive, but perhaps not out of reach for the upwardly mobile young (or youngish) urban professional.

Reports have emerged in Germany that former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler is about to become the upper-echelon automotive executive convicted in the diesel emissions fiasco perpetrated by Volkswagen Group. A Munich court issued a preliminary assessment on Tuesday, stating that an accusation of fraud had been substantiated.

If you thought Audi’s naming scheme for electric vehicles was a little confusing, buckle up because things are about to get more complicated. The brand is preparing to rename its entire lineup to further differentiate between EVs and combustion models. While rumors about the company dumping e-tron badging for something different have circulated for weeks, CEO Markus Duesmann recently confirmed some of the details in Germany. In the future, all combustion-reliant Audi products will be issued odd numbers while electric models are to be given even ones.

Yes, we're featuring yet another wagon in this slot. We're automotive journalists, what can we say?

This one is a 2012 Audi A3 Premium Plus S-Line with the DSG automatic transmission.

Hi there, folks. We're working on another initiative with our corporate parents/partners to promote our forums. In this case, it's all about Audi and F1.

Today's used car of the day is a sporty Audi sedan that asks $27,500. This 2007 Audi RS4 sedan has a manual transmission and is in Pennsylvania.

While we don’t generally rush to mindlessly parrot news about executive changes at major car companies, this one is worth noting. After all, with this shakeup in Germany, it means VW Group and Porsche are about to share a design chief – but one with a familiar face.

The Audi RS6 Avant and RS7 enjoy legendary status in the United States. The cars are two of the brand’s hottest performers here, falling second only to the R8 supercar. However, there’s always room for improvement, and that’s exactly what the automaker is doing for 2024. Audi is working on a new Performance trim for both cars that pushes even more power from their twin-turbo V8 engines and brings other go-fast upgrades to the chassis.

You're not alone if you find Audi’s EV naming convention confusing. Understanding the differences between various e-tron, e-tron GT, and Sportback models is more complicated than it should be, and unfortunately, things are unlikely to get easier as new models roll out. Audi recently teased new Q8 e-tron and Q8 Sportback e-tron models that are essentially renamed versions of the standard e-tron. We don’t know the pricing or release date details yet, but the two EVs debut on November 9, so we don’t have long to wait. 

A wagon with a manual transmission? Only one owner? Under 130K miles? Only $11,000?

Pinch us, we're dreaming.

The tasty RS 7, with a 4.0L bi-turbo V8 belting out nearly 600 horsepower packed into a slinky sportback body, is the sort of delightful lunacy which acts as a speedy tonic to the raft of dour crossovers and SUVs which crowd parking lots at the mall. A new exclusive edition – a trim infuriatingly spelled in all lower-case letters – ratchets up the rarity even if it doesn’t provide any extra German horses.

The price goes up, too. A lot.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has listed its’ automotive recalls for June 2 through 9 and the list includes Audi, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, and Honda vehicles for various types of recalls.

It’s a new week, and I’m back with another German car Rental Review for your enjoyment! Today’s rental is one of two American market entrants into the premium compact five-door liftback segment, and not a car one expects to find in an Enterprise lot. Presenting a 2020 Audi A5 Sportback, two years and 50,000 rental miles later.

Last week, Volkswagen’s supervisory board reportedly told management that it needed to work on improving the company’s software division. Though that should hardly be surprising considering how often digital glitches have delayed product launches and forced the automaker to issue sweeping recalls.

Software gremlins stymied the launch of numerous ID-badged EVs, the Mk8 Golf, and a handful of other vehicles from VW Group’s many subsidiaries. But the issues have persisted, with customers citing electrical troubles and noting that the automaker’s novel touchscreen interfaces are brutally unresponsive. Some of the problems were deemed so heinous that the company eventually recalled literally every current-generation Golf sold within its native Germany. But it’s going to have to do a lot more if it’s serious about leveraging computer code as the cornerstone of an evolving business model and the board of directors seems keenly aware of that fact.