RE: Audi A9: Will It Be A Coupe?

[Munich]

Mermaid said:

Zod said:

"4wd is superior"?

You're going to have to justify that rather extraordinary claim.

Would you have opted for a 2wd X5 it it was available?

It's horses for courses.

Why not? Enough people seem to buy 2wd SUVs so if a 2wd X5 was offered it may well be very popular. After all, the BMW X1 is offered with 2wd.

[Munich]

ZesPak said:

So sales numbers and depreciation curves determine whether a car is any good/should exist?
God, and I love a Phaeton. BTW, how are the sales numbers and resale values of a Phantom?

If sales numbers and resale values are all that matters, we should all be driving 3-series and focus'.

The sales numbers of the Phantom were very good, and still are very good considering it's lifecycle phase. RV's were also very good but I don't know how it is performing now.

However, going back to my original post, what I mean is that the market for these cars is very small. For the additional couple of thousand units Audi will sale when offering this model, is it worth the effort? I would have thought it better to allocate their resources to developing the next generation A4 or A3. It is not as if they need a halo car, they already have the R8 and a very successful Le Mans racing program. Referencing of residual values was simply to emphasize that even with small volumes the RVs are still terrible meaning that there simply isn't strong demand for such cars regardless of how good they are.

I'm all for diversity and choice in the motor industry (I still wish Volvo would offer a car like the 780, or Fiat the 130 Coupé), but it still doesn't mean Audi's decision is a good one.