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Audi A4 set to challenge C-Class and three Series for mid-size luxury crown – Car News, CarsGuide

Audi A4 set to challenge C-Class and three Series for mid-size luxury crown

Audi’s latest A4 can take the fight right up to BMW’s three Series and the superior Mercedes-Benz C-Class in the medium luxury car segment, according to Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle.

In the midst of a fresh product storm – and a large-scale recall that touches many of its diesel engine-equipped models – Audi Australia is banking on the new-generation A4 to hit some boundaries in the fiercely contested medium luxury car segment that is presently predominated by the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The fierce rivalry inbetween Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, particularly in Germany, is akin to that inbetween the local Ford and Holden camps in the 1990s, both in the showroom and the boardroom.

Local C-Class sales are eventually demonstrating some signs of abating after two years of solid growth, with a slide of some thirty three per cent year on year partly attributable to the release of the A-Class based CLA and GLA and the GLC SUV. It still remains some seven hundred cars ahead of BMW’s three Series, which also takes in the three Series Gran Turismo, at Two,623 sales for the year to date.

The company is “very, very proud” of the car.

Audi’s fresh A4, meantime, has posted 1,076 sales this year, with the fresh car coming on stream in March. The brand moved two hundred thirty five A4s in May, versus three hundred seventy nine Three Series and five hundred forty seven C-Classes.

Audi Australia’s managing director Andrew Doyle believes a ‘softly softly’ treatment will see the A4 encroach on its rivals as the year rolls on, telling CarsGuide.com.au that the company is “very, very proud” of the car.

“It truly is a step switch in technology of that car and its driving dynamics, and the car indeed needs to be driven,” said Mr Doyle. “We don’t expect to see a yam-sized (sales) spike and then a run-along. We’ll actually see continual growth as more and more people detect just how far ahead of it is from both our previous model and the competition.”

Mr Doyle was cautious about underlining a target date that the A4 would haul in its Bavarian brethren, but he believes the car has growth potential in the sector.

“I think in time, it can certainly challenge some of our competitors in that space,” he said. “Clearly, we’re a youthful brand still in Australia, so we have a smaller car park to work within our own loyalty base.

“We need to tell a story as to why customers need to budge across from other brands to practice this, because there is nothing like it in that segment, as far as we’re worried, in terms of benchmark design and technology.”

Ahead of more fresh products set to drop in two thousand seventeen and 2018, including S4, RS4, A8, S8 and refreshed A3, Mr Doyle sees the A4 as an significant car for the local Audi arm.

“The A4 is a key model for us to proceed our growth in the coming years,” he said.

Has the A4 done enough to match and potentially strike its German rivals? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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