Boston D.M.D.

is that true? I mean, Audi is supposely coming out with a 4.2 V8 in 2004, so where does this rumor come from?

allestraße

the "imminent" arrival of the allroad 4.2, although I believe the engine was developed for other purposes; the increasing number of allroad "wannabees" being introduced by other, lesser, marques, who clearly see a market for this kind of "crossover" vehicle; the denials from my dealership when I asked them outright.

The probable demise of the allroad has been reported in the motoring press and seems to be borne out by the introduction of the "Pikes Peak" vehicle which is more of a traditional SUV (ugh). It seems that Audi has been seduced by the truck concept, which in their minds probably translates into more North American sales - what's good enough for Porsche, BMW and MB (and did I hear Maserati!), is good enough for Audi - what was that about leading and not following! Apparently they were disappointed at the allroad sales volume, but based on the number we see here in South West Connecticut, they haven't done badly for practically zero advertising.

So, will the allroad be an obsolete, difficult to obtain parts for, junker, or will it become a collector's item?

cyjack

but this is really old news.

Yes, the allroad is going to be discontinued, probably in calendar year 2005. It will be replaced by an SUV very much along the lines of the Pike's Peak concept.

Also, last I heard, the allroad 4.2 will be available as of this Spring so I don't think that it qualifies as a model year 2004 release.

cyjack

First, the 4.2 has been around for some time. It has been modified a bit for the allroad, but not substantially.

But with regard to why the allroad is being killed, it's pure math. I read in either Autocar or Car magazine that (and I can't recall whether these are cumulative totals or annual totals) Audi moved something on the order 14,700 allroads while BMW has sold in excess of 100,000 X5s.

That's what I would call an insubstantial gap and one that no amount of marketing can fix.

Audi has seen the writing on the wall: Americans love their SUVs and can't get enough of them, thus the Pike's Peak.

We can harangue them all we want, but Audi is, after all, in the business of 1) selling cars and 2) remaining a going concern. While I much prefer the allroad to any SUV on the planet today (including the Pike's Peak concept) I am, by far, in the minority.

itacud

Since the current A6 will be replaced with a new platform, a new "host" for the allroad will be needed. As the allroad chassis involves non-negligable modifications to the existing B5 A6 chassis, it only makes sense that that a new off-roader will require something different than the new B6 chassis, to exist.

Audi wants the flexibility of power train installation that the new VW/Porsche SUV chassis allows, and will no doubt appreciate the cost savings over doing their own new chassis development. Hence, we get the Pikes Peak, and no more allroad. (And yes, this has been written of for over a year, though the replacement concept had a different name back then. =)

itacud

BMW uses the X5 as a money maker. A 540ix wagon would have been technically superior, but they wanted something they could actually market to Americans. It has to be tall for that.

Audi uses the allroad to prove a point - a wagon can usually do an SUV's job. I'm not convinced that the Pikes Peak will be a big money maker either - certainly not with the 500hp (concept) engine. I think Audi counts on pavement goers for the bulk of their income. I do hope that Audi builds a sellout vehicle or two... it's the only way they'll earn enough income to keep developing products that we love. The extra few inches of height in the Pikes Peak may be just what's needed?

mazzy

It already takes forever for parts (see below).2 months for body parts!

mazzy

5 bucks a gallon will adjust things a bit

cyjack

the allroad is plenty thirsty. In real world driving I averaged about 16.3mpg -- worse than plenty of SUVs.

allroadguy

Meanie! ;-)