Audi to build 'Allroad' A4
It looks like a raised A4 sedan with placky wheel arch flares, but the production A4 Allroad will be a wagonThe way to make a quick buck in the automotive business is to introduce 'segment busters' -- cars that strike a chord with the public, but don't quite fit in any conventional pigeonhole.
Such a car was the original Ford Mustang, a compact car design with sporting overtones. It created the 'pony car' market in the US and is still highly sought.
The car seen here in spy pics -- supplied by those inquisitive dwarves at Carparazzi -- would have established that Audi is embarked on a program to produce its own segment-busting offroad sedan...except Carparazzi believes this is actually a mule for the A4 Allroad Avant.
Shame. Why shouldn't offroaders be sedans? It's only the habit of stuffing everything possible into a wagon for a dirty weekend away that informs the rigid orthodoxy that SUVs must be wagons.
Anyway, the A4 Allroad Quattro is expected to be launched in Germany around the middle of 2009 and will provide Audi with a smaller alternative to the current A6-based Allroad. That means it won't necessarily be a direct competitor in the offroad stakes to the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLK.
-- with Carparazzi
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