Audi A4 set to challenge BMW and Mercedes
Audi A4 set to challenge BMW and Mercedes
By Russell Williamson
German carmaker, Audi, is set to take on compatriots BMW and
Mercedes in the prestige car stakes when the company's first
product line goes on sale from Jan. 1 next year.
In a joint venture with Indomobil subsidiary, PT Garuda
Mataram Motor Company, Audi will build the A4 sedan at a
green-fields site at Bukit Indal, about 65 kilometers east of
Jakarta.
Initially, the A4 will be offered in just one body style, as a
four door sedan, with a choice of two engines.
Engines are a mixture of old and new, both aligned north-south
in traditional Audi fashion, ahead of the gearbox and driving the
front wheels.
The older engine is the familiar 2.6-liter V6 seen in the
previous Audi 80 and the current A6 model, which generates a
maximum power of 110kW.
Although the company has yet to make a decision on what the
other engine will be, it will be a four cylinder unit with either
1.6 liter or 1.8 liter capacity.
The former is the same 1.6 liter engine Audi's parent,
Volkswagen, uses in its small Golf hatch, which generates a
maximum power of 55kW.
The 1.8 liter engine, however, is a new Audi unit using twin
overhead camshafts and, reviving an Audi fixation with doing
everything in fives where engines are concerned, five valves per
cylinder.
It uses the long-stroke configuration often employed by engine
designers to give strong torque characteristics, and is also
claimed by Audi to be the lightest power plant in its class.
The 1.8-liter four produces a very healthy 92kW.
Suspension is also a mix of old and new: the rear end is a
refined version of the torsion-beam axle seen commonly in various
VW-Audi cars, but the front end is a new four-link system using
the same design principles as the all-alloy A8.
The suspension does a more-than-able job. It combines with the
easy-spinning engine to give the composure and spiritedness that
makes this new Audi stand out from other contenders in the class.
The ride is supple enough to quietly absorb most things dished
out by the road, while steering responses are sharp and accurate,
the car indeed shows little evidence of its front-drive and
forward weight bias.
The Asia Pacific Region's sales manager for Audi, Kevin
McCann, said the Audi A4 will be very well specified for the
Indonesian market with a high level of prestige features.
"The strategy that we have employed in other parts of the
world where we are new to the market is to try and offer the
marketplace a higher value for money package without necessarily
having a lower price than our competitors," McCann said.
"The buyer expectations in Indonesia at that segment of the
market are pretty much the same as any luxury car buyer all over
the world," he said.
As a result, customers can expect the A4 to come standard with
electric windows, climate control air conditioning, power
steering and air bags.
Despite the current lack of unleaded fuel outlets in
Indonesia, the A4 will be specified to run on this
environmentally-responsible fuel.
McCann said he did not anticipate the fuel requirements of the
car being a problem as its major market will be in Jakarta and he
expects the supply of unleaded fuel to be adequate by the time
the car goes on sale.
"We anticipate that the network of unleaded outlets will have
increased significantly by the time we actually launch the car,"
he said.
Although Audi have yet to decide on the price of the car,
McCann said he expected it to be competitive with BMW.
"We are very much driven by the market and at this stage we
will be going for a price range that is similar to the equivalent
BMW model on an equipment adjusted basis," McCann said.
Audi are expecting to sell between 1,500 and 2,000 cars in the
first year, which would then level out at about 3,000 cars per
year after that.
With between 85 percent and 90 percent of cars in this sector
of the market being sold in Jakarta, McCann said the A4 would be
sold not through existing Indomobil dealers but through its own
network.
"We will be able to get good market representation from having
stand-alone dealers."
The new factory which the A4 is to be built in will be
operated by a joint venture company between Indomobil, Nissan and
Marubeni Corp, called PT Ismac Nissan Manufacturing.
Production at the factory, which will also assemble
Indomobil's other product lines including Nissan, Chrysler,
Volkswagen and Volvo, is expected to begin in October.
Although the A4 will be built in the same facility as other
Indomobil products, it will be built on its own production line
to ensure Audi's quality standards are maintained.
"Because Audi have a worldwide commitment that all CKD
products must meet the same quality standards as they have in
Europe, we insisted that there be a separate assembly facility
for Audi," McCann said.
The A4 will be the first Audi to be sold in Indonesia but
McCann would not rule out the possibility of other models coming
later.
With Mercedes launching its new E-Class and the larger S-Class
this year, Audi could offer competing models in the form of its
A6 and A8 respectively.