Audi Announces 17 New and/or Revamped Vehicles for 2015 Season

Audi drivers, lovers, admirers, and wannabe drivers can rejoice, the company is set to release 17 new and/or revamped automobiles for the 2015 year, in a company wide-effort to narrow the sales gap with rival company BMW, a task that rival company Mercedes-Benz is also in efforts to overcome.

According to an article posted in Bloomberg News, Audi has been revamping much-coveted A3 lineup in 2013 in efforts to dethrone the current kings of luxury auto-maufacutring, BMW. As trend has it, Audi is well on the coattails of their compettitor, and sales gaps between BMW and its two and three competitors (Audi and Mercedes) have been lessening continuously for the last few years. Audi hopes to oust BMW from its glorious no.1 spot by the end of the decade. But BMW most certainly will not give Audi the advantage without a brutal fight, of course.

“The gap should continue to narrow while BMW should see some support of its own, like the 2-Series and the X4 as we go into the end of the year,” Stuart Pearson, a London-based analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said in the article with Bloomberg News. “BMW will stay in the lead for the foreseeable future.”

As previously stated, Audi will be releasing 17 (!) new cars, expanding its lineup by 22 percent for a total of 60 models. Ever the workhorses, the manufacturers of Audi are tirelessly seeking the throne of the world’s most prominent manufacturers of automobiles. Of those 17 new vehicles, the following are some of the most impressive, and to be sure, exciting for luxury automobile consumers.

2015 A8 Model Line (Prices by model range from $77,400 to $137,900)

The A8 has been redesigned with exterior changes indicating a more dynamic wider stance. But the technological boost from the mega-luxury sedan are truly impressive. Night vision assistant offers animal detection that can help alert the driver to deer and other living road barriers. Secondary collision assist automatically applies the brakes after an initial collision, and a head-up display for easier viewing of vehicle speed, navigation and adaptive cruise control function. Equipped with the optional 4.0T V8 engine, has been improved upon for 2015 with horsepower increasing from 420hp to 435 hp. The A8 is as always a great car for someone who wants to luxuriate while driving pretty darn fast too.

2015 A3 Cabriolet S3 Sedan, ($35,600 to $38,600)

The A3 is one of the more modestly priced vehicles in the canon of Audi’s, but it is no less a vehicle and the 2015 updates make it an attractive offer. Premium standard features such as leather seating surfaces, power panoramic roof, Bluetooth technology with audio streaming, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, HD radio, power driver’s seat, split folding rear seatback and Audi pre sense basic. The A3 line-up will also come equipped standard with the Audi signature Singleframe grille, bi-xenon headlights and LED taillights. Are you a spacey driver who not only texts and drives, but checks your social media as well? With that A3 that’s fine, Audi gives drivers Twitter and Facebook alerts.

2015 R8 Spyder ($138,400 to $182,500) 

And the cremé de la cremé, the 2015 Spyder will blow minds. Consumers responded well to Audi’s supercar last year, and the new features should not deter anyone.The new R8 borrows architecture from none other than Lamborghini’s Huracan model, meaning this thing is going to be very fast. It’s still predominantly aluminium, but switches to carbonfibre for the firewall, transmission tunnel, and the car’s B-pillars. When finished, the 2015 model is said to be about 100 kg lighter than its 2015 predecessor. The entry-level R8 is reported to stick with a naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8, though power is tipped to be be lifted from today’s 424bhp output to an RS5-matching 444bhp. The 5.2-litre V10 also sticks around: output rises from 518bhp to around 542bhp. The R8 is testament to the diversity in lineup of Audi, offering the sweetest luxury vehicles along with supercars that can hold up to the world’s best from Ferrari, Maclaren, and the other usual suspects.

In other Audi news, business is evidently a-booming, meaning their quest to oust BMW from its throne may be less far-fetched than one might think. Last month was their 42nd month in a row to top their previous sales records, and an overall sales bump of 21 percent. Luxury vehicle sales are solid throughout the entire country, replacing pickup trucks as American drivers’ favorite automobiles, according to an article in Time