Next generation Audi aim to be the best of the best
Last year Audi sales in the UK went up by around six per cent year-on-year to 177,304 cars.
This year in the first four months the car market has been bullish but will it last and how long before Audi reaches its 200,000 magic figure?
The experts are divided but to maintain their strong performance Audi has embarked upon an investment programme which will channel a total of €24 billion into new model development and innovative technologies by 2019.
But at the end of the year will the average British driver be able to afford an Audi which is going to have increase in price soon? Brexit is the unknown quantity especially in the motoring and other markets.
Audi can talk about living up to its corporate responsibility and strategically establishing the principle of sustainability for its products and processes.
But the steely Germans will have no sympathy for the Britishers now we have voted to leave the European party.
Everyone knows in this country that Audi are like Kipling Cakes. They make delicious cars and most motorists would rather have a second hand model rather than a comparable new Vauxhall or Ford. I say it every time I review one of their cars.
At the moment Audi is writing a new chapter in its lightweight design success story.
For the next generation of the Audi A8, an intelligent mix of four materials is being used for the first time in the weight-bearing body structure – more materials than in any of the brand’s previous production models.
The luxury saloon is again rightfully claiming its role as an innovation of automotive lightweight design with low weight, impressive rigidity with greater performance, efficiency and safety.
With a mix of aluminium, steel, magnesium and carbon fibre-reinforced polymer they are establishing a new stage in multi-material construction for the next generation of the Audi A8. They don’t hang about these Audi people always looking for the best to make the best.
The aluminium components make up 58 per cent of the new Audi A8 body, the largest share in the mix of materials. A comparison with the predecessor model shows that it contributes a 28 per cent weight savings.
This new process also results in a 95 per cent savings on recurring costs in series production because it eliminates the need for costly process controls required with conventional laser welding.
The remote laser welding technology perfectly symbolises the entire production of the new Audi A8.
In 1994 it was the first generation of this luxury saloon, with its aluminium body, that made the Audi Space Frame an established presence in the automotive world.
Since then the company has built more than one million production cars with this design principle, and Audi has been continually building upon its know-how in the use of materials and joining techniques.
The company is to expand its portfolio with two new Q models, the Audi Q8 will be built next year in the capital of Slovakia which is Bratislava and the first Audi Q4 will drive off the assembly line in Győr, Hungary in 2019.
This will integrate two completely new Q models into the existing production network and will increase their competitiveness in an important segment.
With the Audi Q8, the brand will open up a new segment for its top-end models. The premium SUV in a coupe style combines great spaciousness with emotive design and offers the latest technologies in assistance and infotainment systems.
Audi have produced the Q7 in Bratislava since 2005. Meanwhile, the second generation of the large SUV is in production there, as an S version and the Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid.
The Audi Q4 model is entering the segment of compact utility vehicles and will be positioned between the Audi Q3 and Q5. A Q of choice for everyone!A
Asof 2018, Hungary will also be responsible for production of the Audi Q3 compact SUV, which until then will continue to be produced in Martorell, Spain.
Source: ThisIsWiltshire.co.uk