When Mercedes-Benz launched the A-class, it seemed like a good idea (apart from the infamous elk test incident). With prices starting at less than £14,000 on-the-road it opened up a whole new audience who could now afford the coveted three-pointed star.
Audi has launched the first special edition of the Audi TT sports car. Only 200 of the quattro S-Line will be available in the UK.
Audatex has improved its AudaWorkstation estimating system enabling vehicle body repairers to track, view and compare versions of a damage repair estimate.
Volkswagen is expected to announce the departure next month of Franz-Josef Paefgen, the Audi chief executive amid criticism of his strategy for the premium brand by VW chairman Ferdinand Piech.
Aston Green Audi in Slough has been commended for its high standard of customer service. The Audi Centre has been awarded the certificate for Handbook Service Organisation (HSO), the Audi standard equivalent to the ISO 9002 quality standard.
Inchcape Retail has restructured its management structure in the light of its recent acquisition of Bates Motor Group.
Audi has gained its largest ever slice of the European market in the year to September and is heading for its sixth record year of growth in succession.
Volvo at last has a car to compete in the aspirational premium upper-medium sector against the likes of BMW and Audi, leaving the worthy-but-dull S40 and V40 to tackle offerings from the volume manufacturers.
Audi has launched a new website deliberately aimed at boosting its relationships with the corporate sector.
The new Polo will be the first VW to benefit from Audi's tax-beating FSI direct-injection petrol technology. A 1.4-litre version, developing 85bhp, will be launched next summer three months after the range goes on sale.
Audi pulled off one of the surprises of the show with the Avantissimo concept, said by insiders to be poised to form the pinnacle of the new A8 range to debut at the Paris show next autumn.
Conventional wisdom suggests that if you specify an automatic gearbox, you will get stung on carbon dioxide emissions, which in turn will push up your tax bill come the introduction of the emissions-based system in April.
Upper medium goalposts have shifted a little further if the Audi A4 can be considered the sector's standards referee. The latest version dumps the previous entry 1.8-litre non-turbo engine in favour of a 2.0-litre unit, replacing 125bhp with 130bhp from £18,640.
BMW has revised the 3 Series, Britain's best-selling junior executive car. Prices are up by around 1.5%, but it has new sportier suspension and faster steering, and a new grille and headlights for saloon and Touring models. Aircon is standard and all six-cylinder cars have dynamic stability control. The 318i has a new engine and power is boosted by 25bhp to 143bhp. It costs £19,930, compared with Audi's £18,640 A4 2.0 and the Mercedes C180 Classic (£21,140). The entry level 316i costs £18,070.
Audi UK will launch the A4 Avant on October 4 as it enters the final quarter of a predicted recordbreaking year in the UK.
The RAC is developing an accident repair inspections audit programme designed to reinforce the strength of its brand and ensure uniform standards of quality at its 100 authorised bodyshops.
A £3.5m redevelopment of the Aston Green Audi Centre in Reading is nearing completion. The site will become the new headquarters of Reading Audi and will be the largest and best equipped Audi Centre in the UK.
The Passat W8 is the first vehicle in Volkswagen's ambitious assault on German luxury marques. Badge snobbery aside, Steve Moody wonders if being very good is enough to compete against Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz
A total of 58 different versions of the 2002 model year Audi A6 saloon and Avant are now available, of which 28 are equipped with quattro four-wheel-drive.
Shropshire-based Mitsubishi and Honda dealer JT Hughes is a relative latecomer to the internet, launching its website last month. Designers Webcraft and Positive Advertising followed a precise brief from managing director John Hughes who wanted the site to appeal to dealership's local audience.