2002 Audi A6 Quattro Base Sedan 4-door 4.2l on 2040-cars

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Next-gen Audi RS4 coming, might make it to America

Let us be frank: The second-generation Audi RS4 was one of the best, most exciting cars of the past decade. A four-door sedan with a 4.2-liter V8, all-wheel drive, and a six-speed manual transmission? What wasn't to like? While you can still get a taste of the B7 RS4's character with the current RS5, it isn't quite the same. That's why we're giddy about a new report from Car and Driver, which claims that not only is a new RS4 on the way, but that it could, maybe, possibly return to the United States. As previously reported, the fourth-generation RS4 will go back to a twin-turbocharged V6, after two generations of unassisted V8s under the hood. As per RS4 tradition, it will also be limited to a five-door Avant body style, because "that is what people expect from the RS4," Quattro GmbH boss Heinz Hollerweger told Car and Driver. An RS5 Sportback could also be in the offing, which might remain more true to the character of the first US-market RS4. The US question, though, remains an iffy one, largely because of the Avant shape. Audi has reduced the number of wagons it's offered in the US over the years, dropping the A4 and A6 Avant, although the former is sort of still offered in the form of the Allroad. But that position might be enough to keep the next-gen RS4 off our shores, although as the Quattro boss told CD the US market is changing and "there is more demand there [for wagons], so maybe that will change." Well, Herr Hollerweger, we're here to tell you that America loves wagons, and that you should put the next-gen RS4 on sale over here post haste. Danke.

Audi changes the guard at Quattro GmbH

Although it may not have the brand recognition that Mercedes-AMG does or BMW's M division, Audi's Quattro GmbH department is responsible for its most exciting products - including the RS line of performance models and the R8 supercar. For the past year and a half, Quattro GmbH has been led by Franciscus van Meel, but soon it will get a new leader.
According to reports, van Meel (46, pictured right) is being reassigned to head up the Audi R&D center in Beijing. In his place, Audi is promoting Heinz Peter Hollwerweger (60, pictured above) to the post. The move is expected to be confirmed in advance of the Geneva Motor Show, at which point we can expect Audi to claim that it was part of a planned rotation. However sources suggest that van Meel's departure came at the behest of R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg, who was apparently unhappy with how van Meel has been handling development of the next R8 and of the R8 E-Tron project.
Why Hackenberg would have van Meel reassigned to run one of his own R&D centers is beyond us, but Hollerweger is apparently expected to be able to get the job done faster and better. Whether he'll have any major changes in store for the Quattro division and its products is another matter, but we're looking forward to finding out.

Audi Sport is actually a thing, and it's set to fight BMW M, Mercedes-AMG 

"Essentially, the name Audi Sport positions an enterprise already used to become better-recognized by the public and sets itself up to grow as a result." BMW has its M performance subsidiary. Mercedes-Benz has AMG. So what does Audi have? Some would say "nothing," a few would answer "Quattro," while many others would respond to that by saying, "Don't be stupid, Quattro's their all-wheel drive system." Well, it is, but Quattro GmbH is also the name of the company that has been tasked with creating Audi's highest performance cars, plus special-order customization, customer racing, and the Audi Collection of merchandise. Trouble is, nobody really knew that, as it was in no way a public-facing brand. That all changes with the entity now rechristened as Audi Sport. It doesn't stop there. "We wanted to have recognition for the R8 and RS models on a broad level," said Filip Brabec, vice president of product development. Audi Sport allows those models to be more easily identified as something different and special, much as AMG models are. "It's not just a piece of marketing material, but it'll also be recognized at a dealership." Around half of Audi dealers in the United States have signed up to be Audi Sport dealers, granting them unique training, access to track events and signage. The dealer buildings themselves will have special areas devoted to Audi Sport. So essentially, the name Audi Sport positions an enterprise already in use to become better-recognized by the public and sets itself up to grow as a result. But be it called Quattro GmbH or Audi Sport, what is it that they exactly do? Besides the R8, which it completely developed and manufactures, all its RS models are done in concert with Audi AG. Yet, that "done in concert" process has changed a bit over the years and head of Audi Sport product development Stefan Reil has been there from the RS cars' beginning 19 years ago. "When we started, our cars were launched in the last one or two years of the base Audi cars," Reil said. "We started development when the base cars were already in development or on the road. Now we have a much closer interaction with the people at Audi AG. Even when they start the concept work for the new car, we are right there in that process." View 23 Photos In the beginning, his small team would work on developing one car, finish it, and then move onto the next. Now, his much larger team is running multiple projects at the same time.