There is plenty of news coming out of the Frankfurt Auto Show this week from Audi. There's the introduction of quite a few new models, including the "we wish it were coming to America" Audi A5 Sportback, which is a swell-looking four-door coupe version of the A5; the stupendous, "we wish we'd gone to law school like our mother told us to" Audi R8 5.2 V10 Spyder, which is the sleek non-sideblade convertible version of the R8 coupe; and Audi’s latest concept, the Audi e-tron, an oddly spelled electric concept car that looks like something Courrèges would have designed if he worked in the auto and not the fashion industry. It’s a good time to be in the four-circle business. Sales are on the up and some swell new product is in the pipeline.
The e-tron is powered by four electric motors -- one at each wheel -- and produces 313 horsepower and, wait for it, 3,319 pound-feet of torque, giving it a zero-to-60 time of less than 4.8 seconds. Audi says the top speed is limited to 125 mph to prevent a drain on the lithium-ion batteries, but from looks alone, it seems like the e-tron could break the speed of light. Audi also says the car's range is limited to 154 miles, which isn’t enough to get you to Ursa Minor.
The news for Audi out of Germany is good, but stateside, it gets even better. In Audi’s latest U.S. sales report for August, the company said sales rose 26% to achieve its second-best August sales ever and its best month overall since June 2008. This August, Audi sold 8,057 cars and SUVs, up from 6,406 a year earlier. The company also said that it set a sales record for the Audi Q5 crossover and that demand edged up on the Audi Q7 TDI diesel model. With Audi’s premium prices, that it makes us think, what recession?
So why the sales jump? Like they say in showbiz, it all comes down to product. Premium luxury crossovers are fine, but we think the heart and soul of the Audi brand is in the performance vehicles like the 2010 S4, 2010 S5 Cabriolet and the new 2010 R8 V10.
We recently had a chance to spend some time behind the wheel of each car and can unequivocally say they are, hands down, the best iterations of the S models to come from Ingolstadt in years.
Why? Audi has embraced newer technology, like supercharged, direct-injection engines for the both the S4 and S5 Cabriolet, to replace the larger, less fuel-efficient and more polluting V-8s from the last models. It also takes a more balanced approach to the design and packaging of its cars, building on its somewhat understated Euro Luxury angle of the last few years. Also, the two models present an interesting cross shop with both Mercedes-Benz and BMW smaller luxury models.
Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America, remarked on how the automotive marketplace had changed: out with over-the-top and in-your-face and in with a more understated and progressive edge. Audi, he explained, was a more fashion-forward brand with a progressive action to stand on. We tend to agree.
While marketing terms and slogans are fine and may move the needle in the market, spend any amount of time behind the wheel of a new 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI with its over-the-top mid-engine mounted V10 and you can see why the brand is on an upward swing. The R8 in its V8 form was a perfectly serviceable daily driving super-car, but with the extra two cylinders and 105 more horsepower, the R8 comes alive. We had a chance to drive both the automatic and the R tronic models on the track and the road, and comparing it with the V8 is like comparing a sledgehammer to a handbag.
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