Hm ... No.

Actually for years Audi was ahead of BMW in European sales. And now it's vice versa.

It has much to do with new models being introduced, about targeted customer base, about entering new markets, etc.

Eg. since most high-volume Audi cars sold in Europe are FWD & are actually more spacious (family-friendly) than BMW cars - Audi has quite broader customer base, while BMW is considered more "niche".

When BMW added new models in portfolio, they overtook Audi in sales. Now when Audi is adding new models as well, the gap is closing again.

And it has also a lot to do with
a) price (incl. financial services),
b) production capacities, and
c) sales network (markets & dealerships).

Eg. in China where Audi has much more production capacities & more dealerships the sales of Audi cars exceed BMW sales a lot.

Of course Audi is a premium brand, has a great image, and offers great cars so it's normal the cars sale. But as I said: why someone sells more depends on several reasons.

The only fair comparison would be eg. if BMW, MB, & Audi had totally identical dealer network, identical prices, identical product portfolio, identical production capacities, identical image, identical room in cabin etc then we could say the design is the key factor for purchasing / not purchasing a particular car. Yet now we can only speculate, and nothing more.

RS6 facelifted sedan being tested. Gives us an idea of what the facelifted A6 rear lights would look like

RS6!!!!!!!!!!!! Loving the new taillights!

It does look very handsome in that one shot.

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It looks handsome because it's an RS6. On a normal A6, it's kind of generic I think. But it's better than pre-facelift for sure!

It looks good. But its becoming all to difficult to distinguish the different Audi models.

Is it me of do the lights look a little photo chopped?? Either way they are sooooooooooo hot. On the other hand it's a pity that half the Audi line up will be rocking the same tail lights.It's just what we wanted, an enlarged RS4. It will easily be the most attractive car in the bunch.

Second that. The whole car looks somehow fake! And I don't see Audi travelling the world with "secret" rearlights naked like that. Especially not Audi, always very careful with its mules and testcars.

I just found the original images and the car was like expected covered with Audi's red masking tape:

Link

The Audi A6 has been on the market since 2005 and will be replaced by an all new fourth generation model in 2011, so it is about time for a mid life facelift.

These latest shots taken in Germany reveal the A6 Avant Facelift undergoing testing with a slightly redesigned front bumper, new rectangular fog lamps and bigger air-intakes on the left and right of the grille. Engines will stay largely unchanged apart from the addition of the 290hp supercharged V6 as reported earlier this week.

We expect to see the debut later this year, with Paris being a likely destination.


Audi A6 Facelift Caught Undisguised

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