NEWS

JAMES BATCHELOR grabs the chance to speak to Audi’s UK boss about the RS brand and its dealer network How important is RS? It’s very important. Originally we only ever had one model at a time and the RS name began with the RS2. That was seen very much as a bespoke, one-off, almost a [...]

GERMAN firm Audi has announced Dominic Chambers as their new head of marketing in the UK. A marketing specialist for 22 years, Chambers, 45, has focused most recently on the technology sector with organisations such as Vodafone and LG electronics. Chambers will preside over the communications strategy behind a range that has just peaked at [...]

It’s the last thing you want to see on a car launch, but sadly they all too often appear. What am I talking about? Plod of course. News that a car launch has rocked up in town travels around the local area quicker than a bout of E Coli. Policemen are told to position themselves [...]

AUDI has finalised and released full details about its exciting new addition to its SUV range, priced from £24,560. The Q3 will be the German firm’s smallest SUV and will allow Audi to enter previously uncharted waters in the segment. Four engines will be available in the baby Q-series model – all directly injected and [...]

The Audi RS5 is a car that will surprise you. In the images, it looks like just another Audi A5, subtly pumped out but not comprehensively overhauled. In the metal, though, it’s a completely different story. This car looks superb, every inch the wide-arched modern- day Quattro. Even if you’re not aware of this, onlookers [...]

AFTER much speculation from die-hard quattro fans, Audi can now finally reveal that it is adding an RS to its A3 range. The German firm has confirmed that it will produce a RS 3 Sportback to fill the needs of quattro fans. Fitted with the 2.5-litre TFSI engine first used in the TT RS, the [...]

VIP guests have joined together to offically open a new Audi dealership in Northern Ireland. Irish footballer and Manchester United legend Denis Irwin, TV presenter Patrick Kielty, music group The Feeling, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor joined the celebrations to offically open Belfast Audi. Run by the Agnew Group, the multi-million pound development is situated in the city’s famous [...]

MARKING the appearance of the new Audi A1 to UK roads, celebrities have paraded the A1 around London. Stars from the silver screen including Dominic Cooper, Gemma Arterton, Naomie Harris, Toby Kebbell, Keeley Hawes, Nat Parker and Colin Salmon, joined Matt Dawson, Lemar and others to drive the A1s from London’s Battersea Power Station. The UK is expected [...]

AUDI is tackling the problem of its new ‘e-tron’ electric cars making no noise by looking at the science fiction film genre. The firm’s acoustic technicians – ‘acousticians’ – are trying to find the best way to make their new electric cars safe – and the science fiction blockbuster ‘I, ROBOT’ is helping them. Audi’s [...]

There was a time when driving a supercar required balls of steel. You needed leg muscles the size of a bull’s, a sixth sense for parking and skin thicker than Janet Street-Porter’s to deflect the amount of abuse you’d get.  Thankfully things are different these days – and there’s no better example of that than Audi’s staggeringly brilliant R8. [...]

I’m stressed out. Like a lot. But it’s stress in a good way. If that’s possible? It’s the sort of stress that comes with weight on your shoulders – £350,000 worth of weight to be exact. Today the cars are arriving for our annual Road Test of the Year – our celebration of the best [...]

Welcome to the most important Audi for car dealers, ever. Bold claim – what leads us to make it? Well, Audi says this is going to be its best-selling car; better than the A3, better than the A4. You’ll quickly be seeing a lot of this little hatch… Little? Indeed: The A1 is Audi’s Mini, [...]

VOLVO has shown this autumn’s new V60 estate – and revealed the UK will be its 2nd-biggest market in the world. 9 in 10 of the new BMW 3 Series Touring and Audi A4 Avant rival will be sold in Europe. UK buyers are second only to Swedes in expected take-up of the car’s 50,000-unit [...]

AUDI is to fit headcams to its technicians that will allow car owners to watch what’s going on with their motor – live. The Audi Direct Reception system means customers will be given a two-way link with the Audi technician. This means they will be able to talk to them while they work! Owners will [...]

MERCEDES is the latest firm to have a UK boardroom reshuffle with the appointment of Gary Savage as MD. He will take over from the retiring Dermot Kelly at the end of the month. Coming from the MD role at Citroen UK, Savage is a familiar face in the industry. He has also been a [...]

AUDI has launched a new ‘virtual reality’ tool that shows off the MINI-rivaling A1 hatchback in 3D. This will be available on the firm’s website – and car dealers are being given added virtual A1 promotional tools, too. Audi Centres countrywide are taking delivery of special ‘Augmented Reality’ kiosks. These use a webcam to display [...]

AUDI launched the famous Quattro 30 years ago this year. Gene Hunt, among others, is most grateful that it did. Thing is, since then, it’s not really had a model comparable with the dramatic icon. The firm continued to develop the Quattro, but when it was dropped in the 1990s, there was nothing to take [...]

PREMIUM car dealers who are struggling with very long lead times should look into short-term lease solutions. Audi, BMW and Mercedes car dealers are commonly quoting 3 or 6-month order times, says Equalese. Short-term lease packages could be one way of keeping the customer happy in such situations, says MD Pal Ashton – helping overcome [...]

PREMIUM car values are continuing to thrive despite fuel prices hitting a record high across the country. Glass’s reports values seem unaffected by posh luxury cars, supercars and SUVs being some of the least fuel efficient cars around. What’s causing this odd trend? The ending of the feel-bad factor, combined with the slow rise of [...]

BMW says more than 2 in 3 customers who currently own a BMW will buy another one from their dealer. It is keeping the other 30 percent within the brand that is occupying the firm at the moment. BMW has thus carried out studies to find out why people change. And the biggest reason? Not [...]