Every inbox in Planet Motoring this morning was greeted with the news that Audi is exactly 100 years old today. And that it has chosen to mark this momentous occasion with a five-door sort of mini-estate-cum-saloon/hatchack version of a car originally launched as a coupe. Vorsprung durch Technik indeed.
The A5 Sportback will go on sale here in October, for £25,440 basic, offering customers, well, a bigger version of an A4 Avant, just with less space in the boot. Confused? Take a ticket.
But all the same, Happy Birthday Audi. We love you and your slightly mental ways. What will you be coming up with in another hundred years?
A flying car that’s also an SUV?
What’s the best Audi of all time?
@Mikeado: the Quatro without any doubt… it’s that car which made Audi to what it is today
I really don’t get it. Why build a 5dr A5 when the original 3dr A5 is basically an A4 with two less doors? Yes it looks good but that’s not the point, there is no point. Well, sort of.
It’s not really like Audi’s own CLS rival because the CLS is much bigger and is the size of an E-Class (A6), rather than a C-Class (A4). A CLS is also much more expensive. The A5 Sb has got almost all the same kit on it that the standard A5 has but it’s £780 more. Although it hasn’t really got much competition.
The standard A5’s competition came from the BMW 3-Series Coupe. It also had the Mercedes-Benz CLC to deal with, but the CLC is rubbish. Now though all of it’s ‘possible’ rivals aren’t styled like a coupe unlike the A5 Sportback. But the sensible person with beige trousers will think: ‘Hmmm… Why should i buy a car with less practicality yet for more money?’
However, the A5 Sb is unique in it’s design. People will love it for looking like a coupe, yet will hate it for being slightly pointless. But the A5 Sb is like a CLS on a budget and it works very well like it too. It’s also an Audi so it won’t fall apart every 200 yards. It’s also got Audi’s impresive build quality which is priceless.
Audi say the A5 Sb is ‘A milestone in pure automotive design’ and ‘An extraordinary blend of emotion and function’. Hmmm… A little OTT there. Anyway, the A5 Sb does have great looks and is in a market of it’s own. Let’s hope it’s better than Mercedes can do, the CLC is really quite bad. Happy Birthday Audi.
… And yes i know the CLC is a 3dr Coupe, not a 5dr.
..on the topic of best audis.. the mkI 80 diesel seems a more obvious model for making audi for what it was say 10 years ago.. the a8 for what it is today, the r8 for what it might be tomorrow and the quattro for what it should’ve been… but beautiful though a bit dull, they surely are
HB Audi and 100 more to come !!
Happy Birthday Auto Union.
Happy birthday Audi and cocks dont drive audis
greatest audi ever? r8 le mans car,8 races in a row is just legendary
I don’t see why people don’t get the A5 Sportsback. Its just a A4 Liftback, like a Mondeo hatch competitor. Its for people that want the look of a sedan/coupe with most of the practicality of an estate. Fold the rear seats down and you have a massive, easily accessed load area, put the rear seats up and you’ve got a coupe style 4 door car. Simple.
On topic, happy birthday Audi.
Surely if this is a hatchback A4 it should be called A4 Sportback? And is this ssupposed to be the resulting car from the A7 Concept?
@Mikeado. R8 V10 or Quattro
To Liam (9): The R8 hasn’t won 8 Le Mans in a row; it won 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 which is still a fair achievement!
As a rally fan I’d have to say the Audi quattro – the S1 Evo variant is arguably one of the greatest rally cars ever and it really kickstarted the use of 4wd in “regular” cars.
The Auto Union and R8 are close runners up though!
Sounds like someone at Audi went, “Oh look, ze BMW 5 GT is gut, lets make one”.
PetrolHead247 gives the superficial impression that (s)he knows what (s)he’s talking about…
“The standard A5’s competition came from the BMW 3-Series Coupe. It also had the Mercedes-Benz CLC to deal with”
CLC? Utter codswallop. The A5 competes directly with the CLK, which, unlike the CLC, is a serious bit of kit.
Now, the CLK is being replaced by the E Class coupe – trouble is, the Merc looks rubbish compared to an A5.
My Birthday today also, Happy Birthday Audi and me.
I think they made it to compete with the Mercedes CLS & VW Passat CC…
I like it. And I think one or two people are excited about the idea of an RS-model as well.
Motor journalists must be sceptic because they did not see it comming, so they can’t handle it.
Not often these days that you see a new model/car reveiled by the maker these days.
Looks like a Vectra hatchback.
And Audis are driven by c**ks.
I’m either an old grouch, or someone who actually knows something about history…. but whatever, I find it hard to congratulate Audi on anything due to the fact that those monstrous Auto Union GP cars in the 30’s – carrying the same 4-ring badge as today’s Audi’s – were bankrolled by the Nazi party and used for propaganda purposes by a regime which was already persecuting and killing those it didn’t like.
Yes, I know it’s 70 years ago, but we don’t forget the Holocaust just because it was 70 years ago, and the whole thing just makes me feel uncomfortable.
ahem in response to petrolHead247 if u want a cheaper cls why not buy a passat which is the same size?? and why did they call it an a5 instead of an a4??
Adi is sweet. Cool car. Period.
I dont like Audi’s apart from the R8 V10
@ jamjam: Yes the Passat CC is almost exactly like a budget CLS. It’s had the market to its self for a while but now it’s up against the A5 Sb, and if the Sb is any good, it’ll out sell the CC. Although that shouldn’t worry VW at all because they own Audi.
So the Sb and CC are basically budget CLS’s and the CC does a good of it too, although the CC is a little dull. If the Sb is as good if not better than the standard A5 then it’ll be the best in it’s class, although that’s a very small class.
Still no good. I still dont like Audi’s designs, their cars just all look the same. This is the sane story with Vauxhall, Peugeot and Mercedes.
Audi drivers are real cocks.
Happy Birthday Audi and their cock-head drivers!
The best car from Audi’s point of view in the UK has got to be the TT. It brought a much younger customer to them. One thing though, will all the car press stop going on about Audi’s build quality, My TT mkII is going back to the garage for the third time with faults. The new A4 has cheaper plastics than a 99p toy car. Sat nav does not have 6 digit post code (standard on Fords), cheap skates.
Happy Birthday to you …
Audi’ are so cool.
@grimble ..quite right about the history..and the same applies to merc who sold and sell vehicles to some of the most vicious men on the planet, bmw who made the messerschmidt, vw for obvious reasons, ford..henry only read 2 books in his life, one of them was mein kampf..and it inspired him.., siemens, philips, toyota, mitsubishi, fiat, alfaromeo etc etc etc.. where there is war there’s a machine and where there’s a machine there will always be an opportunist industrialist ready to sell his soul for a dream.. c’est la vie..if all the holocaust tought us was not to buy german products than we’re right back where we started don’t you think ?
..having said that, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a vw.. that would be too much
..
ps.. why is it that in england everyone who seems to be doing well and has the car to match is considered a cock and those who aren’t quite as clever are not ? Shouldn’t it be the other way around ? Just a thought…
A man, Haz, European car fan.. any ideas ?
..or is the only concept you have of cool is a benefit seeker in a gtr ?? Hmm??
as for those of you going beserk on guessing which other model this audi is supposed to compoete with… Most manufacturers offer an avst scale of models to chose from.. people don’t have to buy a volvo if they want storage, the don’t have to go to bmw for sporty or to landrover for off road durability.. they buy a type of vehichle from a certain manufacturer because for one reason or the other they find the brand appealing… it’s the simplest idea in the world, branding…eliminates the competition considerably.. most peope therefore will not go around pondering bmw, merc, or audi they’ll most likely know which brand they want.. they might be confused about which model.. and that’s where this car comes into the picture…
Looks like a dream for many Australian Holden Torana friends.
A Holden Torana goes Autobahn !
Yes, geronimo. You just keep typing if that’s what makes you happy.
Geronimo, you need to get out more son!
If you want a slightly bigger Audi, what’s wrong with an A6?????? Why pay more for a bigger car with less bootspace?? Weird….
Wasn’t this car suppose to be labeled “A7″?
Anyways, happy birthday to Audi…
In a hundred years Audi will be making something that can be as ugly as a Porsche Cayenne and as useless as a BMW X6! A century of teutonic tech will have to go into that, surely!
i like this car a lot
as far as i can tell its the a5 but a 5 door version with a boot slightly less big than an a4 estate
so if you want a coupe you can fit your mates or family in and want a boot of an estate car then its perfect.
well done Audi and happy 100th
mikeado.. I was a bit bored.. what’s your problem m8 ?
..and bafta.. you’re probably right
Why can’t they just bloody call it a fastback saloon?
Stop inventing new standards of design configuration and stick with the old and simple but direct way of saying things as they truly are.
Beside mixing up what once was such a simple designation this new Audi really is the best looker of all the fastback saloons at this point of time… including the new Jaguar XJ.
‘cool is a benefit seeker in a gtr’ sometimes you get that idea
call me old fashioned but i don’t like the left side to tell me what car i should drive nore the car lovers that say a brand is for c**ks.
As for the new A5 Sportback, the ‘normal’ A5 looks nicer but this one is more practical.
@8 shouldn’t it be: ‘Dear mr. Cock, plz stop driving Audis, ‘cos I want one’?
Greatest Audi ever… Depends on what is was good for. The 80 mkI for saving the company, the Quattro for making Audi interesting, the 200 for opening new markets for Audi, the R8 for winning LM. My choice’d be the original Quattro, with Michèle Mouton behind the wheel. For earning women respect in rallying. And for looking só very good, even without her.
Geronimo, your comments are the most astute I’ve seen on here for months!
Happy birthday Audi. In a way I’m sorry you’re getting so big, as it brings out the worst in those in the UK who seem to enjoy turning on the successful. Please ignore them and continue to make the best looking and well engineered motors out there.
Get an Octavia instead!!
The current Audi is not a 100 year old company. Not at all. The current Audi was reborn as a brand in the late 60´s-early 70´s, with the Audi 50 [later rebranded as VW Polo].
It is the same case as Bugatti. Or if Hispano Suiza will be revived next year and then claimed it is zillions of years old. Better still, Spyker is a contemporary Audi case.
So Congrats, Audi. You´re 40 now [and actually showing a little bit of middle life crisis, to be honest].
TOP GEAR PLEASE GET US SOME SHOTS FOR THE 2010 AUDI A8
MY DAD WANTS TO BUY A CAR BY 2010 AND HE LOVED THE AUDI BUT THE MODEL IS CHANGING AND WE WANNA KNOW IF IT WORTHS WAITING OR SHOULD WE JUST GO FOR A BEEMER OR A MERC
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEASE HELP ME
email: gifted1993@yahoo.com
and btw no kidding i am ur biggest fan, well at least from the middle east (YES I AM ACTUALLY IRAQI)
Happy Birthday Audi….Always love you!
To Iraqi Spy: Get your Dad to buy Audi…RS6 maybe? Forget Merc..Forget Bimmer…
All the best to Audi, they have been imprensive with there out of the box interior desighn an the exterior of there latest products eg: S-line and the quatro have been making masive cars for years. So big up Audi for all your top notch car designs.
Am I the only one who thinks that this is a very lame present to celebrate the (supposed) 100th birthday – just another CLS/CC-clone, tagged as a whole new model? Still waiting for the 5-cylinder RS3…
@geronimo (30): interesting thought. It’s a given fact that some people who can’t afford certain things, automatically reason that nobody ought to be able to afford them. Not out of jealousy, but out of some underlying socialist gutfeeling. I won’t give up my Merc for that. There’s a lot of stuff I never had, or will have, that others take for granted, so why not? No kids, no holidays, no garden. But I’m the one who gets the angry looks on the street, not them. A lot of people are just shortsighted, I think.
Happy Birthday Audi. Gimme the A1 fool!
@49..talk about splitting hair.. but you’re right
.. not quite sure about the mlc theory though.. but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess..
@prengel, SPOT ON !! They ought to have revived the quattro in some shape or form for the big one double O..
..an tak, hahaha, I can;t stop…, mikeado will probably take a shot at some verbal abuse..:D (and I thought I needed to get out more..) anyway.. Yup, I know exactly what you mean..and “short sited” is a very nice way of putting it.. good on ya..:D
Geronimo:
I tend to judge cars by the way they are driven.
And on the motorway its usually the kidney grilles or the daft audi beard in the rear view mirrors that are tailgating, cutting up, dangerous driving. Bullybody tactics on the road who think because they bought a german car they are better than everyone.
Don’t fall into the trap like the other sheep that “GERMAN CAR == WIN AT LIFE!!!!!”.
I have a lot more respect for true professionals (Doctors, Dentists, Architects) who stereotypically drive Volvos and Saabs than a middle management bully in an a4.
..57.. where do you get so prejudice.. I believe in being considerate towards my fellow motorist.. men, women.. you name it.. we all live on this planet and i like to get along.. My respect isn’t focused on a certain proffession, hair or skin colour, religion or type of car a person might choose to drive or be driven in.. and I have always thrived on bmws.. I’m on my third one and I’d lie if I claimed my right foot isn’t made of led yet I am branded a cock, given ther evil eye when overtaking someone driving along at 40 in a 50 zone on a sunny sunday afternoon in a not quite as german car as mine… where is the respect ? What does middle management, dentistry or retirenmet have to do with all this ? Everything and yet nothing really.. after all a car is just a car… the truth is you probably do not yet drive the german car of your dreams or the one that comes with your job..and that is a splinter big enough to make you prejudice.. just for the record statistics show that statistics are unreliable sources of information.. hope it makes sense.. good luck and try to smile more..
ps. on the motorway, out of respect for everyone else, I tend to check my mirros to make sure I’m not blocking anyone who’d like to drive faster ..when I see a car coming, I move..so no I don’t recall ever being cut off, or being tailgated.. the limits are what they are the rest is just general courtesy, awareness and good will… makes it safer for all of us.. i rarely encounter an audi or a bmw that doesn’t do the same…
ps the bimmers didn’t come with my job, I bought them and yes getting in for the first time and than time and time again does give one a sense of selfsatisfaction.. nothing wrong with that is there ?
..I mean, imagine if it didn’t … if fealing fulfillment and happyness would be a sin.. We’ve got the t-shirt, it’s called dark middle ages..I’m more happy go lucky..but that’s just me.
so its a four door a5 which is a 2 door a4.
or its an a4 avant with a sloping boot with the a5 looks.
weird
p211..nope, it’s an a5 sportback just like it says in the article ..how weird is that ?
I kinda get it but i dont. Maybe if the CLS was a platform smaller it would have a rival, and BMW are likely to do that monstrous GT job on the 3-series. Eugh
Is that an A4 or an A5? Make a hypercar instead called the Audi Hannibal Lecter
Happy Birthday Audi, now put the R15 back on the ALMS and LMS schedule!
My dads ordered a brand new special addition audi R8 V8 for their birthday.
many of you are discussing that the a5 is an a4 avant with 3door not 5 and bla bla bla but if u line up one a5 and a a4 u would see the difference the a5 is slitly wider then an a4 it basicly looks more like a realy sports car low and really wide when i see a a5 and a4 avant i really dont think of them as the same car but with more or less door’s they are two compleatly diffrent car’s to me, but anyways gratis to audi:)