Audi A8 - Market Leader for 8 and 12-cylinder Cars
Source: Audi AG

Success for Audi in the range-topping engine segment for luxury-class saloons: the Audi A8 is by far and away the market leader for eight and twelve-cylinder engines in Western Europe. Around 6,800 of the Audi A8 powered by the eight-cylinder engine and 1,180 by the 12-cylinder version were sold to customers in this region in 2004.

Comment by Ralph Weyler, Member of the Board for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG: "The fact that in only a few years the Audi A8 has been able to attain the leading position for prestigious top-range engines in the luxury-class saloon segment in Western Europe is testament to its huge appeal. This is underlined by the many awards the A8 has received over the past few months". A 12-cylinder engine has been available for the Audi A8 since mid-2001.

In the online edition of the Capital business magazine, car industry expert Prof. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer underlines the significance of this top segment within the luxury class: "There is a name for tradition, prestige and innovation in engine design - the twelve-cylinder engine. Whoever offers these engines is competing at the very highest level." (Article dated 4.2.04)

The Audi A8 captured its latest award, along with three other Audi models, in the readers' poll conducted by auto motor und sport: for the 108,000 readers of the car magazine who took part, the sporty Audi A8 defines the benchmark in the luxury class. In the US, the long-wheelbase version of the Audi A8 was voted "America's Best Luxury Car" by the AutoWeek trade magazine. And in India, even before its official market launch, it received the highest accolade in the car industry, the CNBC-TV 18 Autocar Award as "Best Import Car of the Year".