"We frankly still have mixed feelings about...the larger grille...." -AudiWorldŽ A4 Review.
03-12-2005, 06:46 AM
#1
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
"We frankly still have mixed feelings about...the larger grille...." -AudiWorldŽ A4 Review.
I want to applaud this objectivity on the part of the AudiWorldŽ editorial staff. Good for you guys.
Similarly, the article's author strongly questions the new A4 pricing ($37K+ for 2.0; $42k+ for the six cylinder). Whatever the reason (weak dollar, etc.) the effect of this up-pricing is to remove the A4 from the reach of many in the demographic that had--up to now--made the car successful.<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/features/tests/b7a4.html">AudiWorldŽ Homepage New A4 Review Article</a></li></ul>
Similarly, the article's author strongly questions the new A4 pricing ($37K+ for 2.0; $42k+ for the six cylinder). Whatever the reason (weak dollar, etc.) the effect of this up-pricing is to remove the A4 from the reach of many in the demographic that had--up to now--made the car successful.<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/features/tests/b7a4.html">AudiWorldŽ Homepage New A4 Review Article</a></li></ul>
03-12-2005, 09:15 PM
#2
AudiWorld Expert
Thanks man...we call them as we see them
The grille is growing on me a bit..but I still have issues with it...and keep hearing the same from long time hard-core Audi enthusiasts.
03-13-2005, 12:03 AM
#3
Don't Mess With The Hass!
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for some reason, it doesn't photograph well.
When it was first presented I found it brutal. But seeing them in person is a lot different and I'm starting to understand the direction Audi is taking. At least they're doing a better job on this style of grille than Chrysler is.
03-14-2005, 11:43 AM
#4
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
You hit on one of my own issues...
A brand's current users are ALWAYS its best prospects for repeat sales. The new grill has been anything but enthusiastically embraced by most current Audi owners. This response could easily have been uncovered in pre-launch research, but if it was (and I'm betting it was), Audi made the truly risky business decision of going forward with it anyway. ("Screw the current owners...what do THEY know?")
I may well be wrong, but my guess is all this new-grill nonsense emanates from the loss of J Mays to Ford and Audi management's ego need to chart a new--and very different--design direction to show that they were not beholden to Mays. (I say "nonsense" because the car's rooflines have been largely unchanged which indicates sort of an on-the-cheap approach to a "new design." In the case of the A8. they literally just slapped the grill on the existing car, for heaven's sake.)
Oh, well...at least there's the next re-design to look forward to when this one passes. Meanwhile, I'm shopping other brands, so I won't be buying my sixth Audi very soon.
I may well be wrong, but my guess is all this new-grill nonsense emanates from the loss of J Mays to Ford and Audi management's ego need to chart a new--and very different--design direction to show that they were not beholden to Mays. (I say "nonsense" because the car's rooflines have been largely unchanged which indicates sort of an on-the-cheap approach to a "new design." In the case of the A8. they literally just slapped the grill on the existing car, for heaven's sake.)
Oh, well...at least there's the next re-design to look forward to when this one passes. Meanwhile, I'm shopping other brands, so I won't be buying my sixth Audi very soon.