The fate of the next A4 is now sealed, according to a new report. That doesn’t mean that it’s done. Far from it. Instead, it means that it’ll be more Audi and less VW than before.
Automobile reports that there was a fight inside Audi over the new A4. The car people wanted it on the upcoming MLB architecture. Audi wanted the R&D, the motivation, and the volumes of that longitudinal-engine chassis. Or at least what developing it would bring. The accountants wanted the A4 to move to the transverse MQB from VW. Which could have saved a billion. Big money for a company desperate to cut costs.
Well, the accountants lost. The B10 A4 is reportedly going MLB.
“What opened everyone’s eyes were Mark Lichte’s design proposals,” a product planning board member told Automobile. “The MQB-based models looked okay thanks to short overhangs, a long wheelbase, and a big trunk. But their proportions were clearly those of front-wheel-drive cars with a dash-to-axle ratio similar to the A3. The MLB-derived B10 proposal—which received standing ovations—also has a short front overhang, but there is significantly more meat between the bumper and windscreen, which makes the next A4 look like a shorter and sportier A6.”
That doesn’t mean all is well at Audi. To help save that billion, cuts could happen. To the A5. And maybe even the A7 and A8. Those merge MLB with some older Audi Space Frame components. If there’s going to be a new A8, it’ll probably share bits with the Panamera, the report says. But instead, there could be an A9 and Q9 e-tron based on the company’s electric platform.
[source: Automobile]
shared from fourtitude
Source: Read Full Article