Audi A4 Outsells BMW 3-Series in Germany

Gorgeous.. yes....More spacios...possibly...Better handling? No...Driven both. Audi is not as sporty and as responsive. Go try yourself before posting such comments.

I just drove the new A4 and agree with you. I came away very impressed with this car, especially the Avant. Gorgeous!! The BMW may still maintain an edge in the handling department and because it is smaller should be the more nimble ride almost by default.

"does the Audi drive better? no" Umm yea, actually it does. "Is it better quality no?" Umm yea, actually it is.

WAAAAH! I'm a whiny BMW fanboy! WWWAAAAH!

Germany is the biggest car market in Europe. FACT

marm0lade, seriously, either grow up or find another forum to post on, please. i'm not quite sure what the new wcf rules are, but i'm sure you're in violation of at least one of them. now, it's no secret i prefer bmw's to their direct rivals, but that doesn't mean i'm a fanboy. let's try to break this down into simple, unbiased fact. bmw and mercedes have been locked in competition since bmw's entrance into the luxury market. people looking for a mid-high priced german luxury car had a very simple choice: if they wanted absolute comfort and surefooted relaxation, they went down to a mercedes showroom and found the best one they could afford. if they wanted a car that was fun to throw around a bend or to just enjoy the sensation of twisting it through the corners, a bmw was the order of the day. it was quite simple: one had comfort and relaxation, one had driveability and excitement. and they were both well built, with decent quality, and styling of course is merely down to personal preference. but then audi comes in to the fray with their impressive cars, but my question is this: what does audi bring to the competition that isn't already there? you've got comfort, relaxation, driveability, excitement, quality and looks well covered. what does audi have to set it apart? i know i'm about to be screamed at, people are going to tell my i'm wrong, but that's ok - i want to be proven wrong. please, someone tell me, without brand loyalty, what audi has to make them special. and don't say looks - looks are subjective; i happen to prefer any bangle car to any car mercedes or audi has produced - with the possible exceptions of the previous model SL and the R8. someone said audi has a planted, secure feel - well, i say if you want to feel secure, go for the merc - a friend of mine who has an S class told me "it drives like a tank, and that's brilliant - it feels so much more planted than a bmw". sorry to bleat on, but please, someone prove me wrong! =)

I think what BMW is not doing enough is marketing, may it be sports concept that they are not going to build or whatever. BMW is tending towards the older generation and that is extremely dangerous. The youth is what is going to buy luxury cars nowadays. An average well qualified (after varsity) person will be able to afford this segment of cars when they are about 25. A survey done last year about who students want to work for after grad showed that Audi beat BMW in Germany for the first time to take no.1 - this was already a warning sign. BMW needs to get young guys, teens to think that their cars are cool; for them to be able to put up BMW posters on their bedroom walls. But unfortunately, I don't think BMW is doing enough. BMW used to give out free posters, they have also done away with that in order to cut costs!!! I don;t see BMWs in movies any more. The most recent BMW models and rumours are stupid granny PAS cars and huge family X6, X1 4X4, Mini E... From Audi??? R8, S3, RS4, A5 and a host of concept cars that will make people feel attracted to the brand. Seriously, BMW is falling down my scale for fashionable cars, Audi on the contrary is coming up. I will always buy a BMW, but this unpleasant trend is the result of a company that focuses too much on profitability and forgets what made BMW successful in the first place. These are aspirational products, if I don't aspire to have one, you hae failed...let this be a wake up call for that chairman of BMW, who is forever trying to please its shareholders and failing to take note of the damage Audi is doing to BMW! It is a joke that he still publically says that Audi is not a threat

Uhh... Yeah I think you mean "there"

don't be petty and pick on someone for a typo/spelling error. and bavarian MS, i disagree. i'd say roger and marm0lade are about equal.

a good analogy, but with one hole - bmw outsold audi worldwide.. pop is more popular than metal, being pop...

Sorry to say, but Audis are terribly boring to me.

Exactly! BMW outsells Audi by more than 12 times in the USA, which is the largets car market in the world!

Audi's are nice, but extremely boring. I'm actually glad less people are buying BMW, makes it that much more exclusive (not really though).

I completely understand that this is your opinion and I respect that. But it seems you are very fond of Audi's racing career as opposed to that which is on discussion here, the cars that are on sale to the general public. Cars used in race series and those on sale are completely different beasts when it comes to the mass-production marques, unlike ferrari for example. I am very interested how you can claim that Audi has the edge over BMW in every class. Even from a completely unbiased view, this seems a very one-sided, almost fanboy-ish angle to come from. Although it has to be said that it seems I have not had the same experience as you in owning a car from every generation made, but I can comment on the 3 Series (namely 325i Coupe) and the Mk.II Audi TT (3.2 DSG), which I drove around the Nordschleife last summer. This so called racing heritage you talk of was definitely apparent in the Audi, with its firm set up, great engine and superb gearbox. Now it must be said I am far from a test track, racing legend but I was lucky enough to time myself in both cars. The Audi clocked a 9:50.46 and the 325i M Sport, a 9:39.31. You can call this fluke, luck, amateurish, whatever but I found the 3 to be a whole level above that of the TT. The turn in was so much more sharper, so much more light footed, the engine although a good 30bhp down on the TT seemed equally quick. And that 'chuck-ability' the BMW has is certainly not matched by the TT's haldex system. This is why you see, I have such a problem with your above statement. I suggest you drive an X5 around a track as well; very surprising! It seems you have taken a bunch of brochure facts and thrown them together to form an argument. Again, but for all I know you could be a racing legend!! Audi definitely deserve their limelight, in motor racing and car production but to write a large statement like yours without even showing a smidgen of praise to the other marque the sounds like THE MOST 'fanatical' argument on here. Sorry to drag on :)

for once, TSLi, i agree with you. but more importantly, i'm interested about what you said about the TT vs 325i when you drove them on the nordschliefe - the TT is a small roadster with a larger engine, and the 325i a mid-size sedan with less power. it may be down to your driving style, but i'm impressed that the bmw was faster than the audi - a small roadster should be faster around a track than a big(ish) sedan. i think that goes to show that bmw brings their racing pedigree into their road cars with far more success than audi does, regardless of which is actually a more accomplished racing marque.

Well, thank you :D A point I should make is that when I did my first few laps around the track, the TT did seem more capable than the 325i. The fact I had 4wd under me inspired more confidence in my driving, coupled with the DSG (opposed to manual tran on the 325i), it seemed I could concentrate more on my driving. It was on my final set of laps that I got the hang of how to properly drive the BMW manual transmission on a track, after which it became a 2nd nature to me thus alowing me to take more risks on corners. The major difference between the cars was the ability to change direction quickly in the 3 series, especially on the twisty bits of the 'Ring. The speed I would go into a corner with the BMW I found could not be matched in the Audi. When I attempted a similar entry speed in the TT i had to turn the wheel a lot more to achieve the same angle of turn, by which time the 4wd system would send 60% to the rear (albeit too slowly) however losing speed in the process. This coupled to over 100 corners results in the surprising, yet inevitable lap times. Secretly I love the TT, the design is undoubtedly well proportioned. To me it exudes true german class and efficiency. But although it is a big step from the Mk.1 TT in terms of performance and handling, it still has a way to go to compete with the likes of a 3 series. I know that sounds very brash and naive, but it is all from my own experience. Note the TT's direct rival is actually the Z4, which I read is more of a drivers car than nearly all of BMW's range. Phew! :)

Before everyone attacks me for that, I only said that because Merc has nothing to do with this article at all.

Don't worry, if I predict correctly, this trend will not last. You see, many have been in a 3 Series family for a long time. And this better looking A4 than prev generations may tend to lure away customers from BMw who thought it was a time to experience something else. If BMW keeps on it's superior quality (and yes, I do believe that the 3 Series is a more solid car, much better built, interior and ext, especially the interior, than the A4), people are going to go back to BMW after their experience with Audi. Yes, the A4 is a nice car, it's beyond expectation from an Audi. But like so many reports have said, it is just not as good as the 3 Series in terms of handling, quality, techno advancements, performance and fuel efficiency.

How can you race a four wheel drive to a two wheel drive? Of course the four wheel will be quicker on straight and acceleration and wet. I think this is absolutely unfair anyway. I have never heard of any other race that BMW pulled out except in SA anyway, as in SA they do not offer 4 wheel drive BMWs, it would definately be an unfair advantage to Audi. If Audi's were so good and advertising their front wheel drive as better cars, why not race with their normal fwd cars without quattro in SA? Well, Icannot figure this out, the only conclusion I can make from this is that hey want to cheat their way to the top, using AWD while the rest of the field uses 2 wheels to propel

Yeah I know what you mean. As far as I know the Auto Union was in competition with Benz back in the 30's.

I'd rather get a pedigree from Aston or Lambo