Audi A6 2012 News

Hot on the heels of the Australian government's mandatory Takata airbag recall, Ford, Audi and Tesla have joined the list of carmakers to detail which of it's models are affected.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued safety recalls for the recently launched Maserati Levante SUV and several Audi models over engine faults.

Audi and Volkswagen have issued three safety recall notices involving 582,822 vehicles sold exclusively in the United States.

As the new global boss of VW promises to compensate customers for a loss in resale value, lawyers are lining up in Australia to represent more owners of cars with software that can cheat diesel emissi

A vote by 75 motoring journalists from 22 countries has awarded the compact prestige car the World Car of the Year award for 2015.It finished on top of a 24-car field and eventually beat the two other finalists, the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat.The other big prizes for 2015, Green Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year, went to the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 and the Mercedes-AMG GT coupe.The winners were announced at the New York Motor Show today at an event hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum at the culmination of a six-month voting process.The C-Class delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.The awards are in their 11th year and previous winners include the Audi A6, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460 and Volkswagen Golf, Polo and Up.To be eligible for the overall World Car award, candidate cars must have become available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015.The WCOTY wins by Mercedes-Benz follow its victories in the Green Car contest in 2007 with the E320 Bluetec and 2012 with the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and its Luxury Car success with the S Class in 2014.“We are extremely delighted of winning the honour of World Car of the Year,” says the chairman of Daimler, Dr Dieter Zetsche.The WCOTY victory follows a similar success for the C-Class in the CarsGuide Car of the Year award.The WCOTY judging panel says: “Taking its design and technological cues from the S-Class, the C-Class employs an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid platform and updated rear-drive powertrains that delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.” WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2015Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz C-ClassGreen Car: BMW i8Performance Car: Mercedes-AMG GTLuxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S CoupeDesign: Citroen CactusPREVIOUS WORLD COTY WINNERS:2014: Audi A32013: Volkswagen Golf2012: Volkswagen Up2011: Nissan Leaf2010: Volkswagen Polo2009: Volkswagen Golf2008: Mazda22007: Lexus LS4602006: BMW 3 Series2005: Audi A6

THE Audi A3 small car -- which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf -- has won the 2014 World Car of the Year, as voted by 69 jurors from 22 countries. The luxury hatch toppled the widely-tipped favourite, the Mazda3 from Japan, in the awards announced at the New York motor show today.The Audi A3 was among five German cars that took out a cleansweep of the 2014 World Car of the Year categories, and it was Audi’s second win in 10 years, having won the inaugural award. Indeed, German cars have won seven of the past 10 World Car of the Year awards, Japanese brands have won the remaining three.Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Audi's North America president Scott Keogh said: “The Audi A3 has only been on sale three weeks and already it’s off to a flying start.”Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “This major award win is an achievement that the whole company can celebrate.”The Audi A3 was among 24 finalists that included the BMW i3 electric car, which won the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the Luxury Car of the Year while the Porsche 911 GT3 was awarded top performance car honours.But the Mazda3 had emerged as an early favourite for the outright World Car of the Year award following rave reviews globally since it went on sale late last year. The previous generation Mazda3 has been Australia’s top selling car for two of the past three years, and was the vehicle that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-years as the market leader, in 2011.The Mazda3 is returned to the top of the sales charts so far this year -- after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla in 2013 -- and is likely to take out top-seller status this year buoyed by the new model which went on sale in January.World car of the year winners2014 – Audi A32013 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk72012 -- Volkswagen Up2011 -- Nissan Leaf2010 -- Volkswagen Polo2009 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk62008 -- Mazda22007 -- Lexus LS4602006 -- BMW 3 Series2005 -- Audi A62014 World Car of The Year category winnersGreen car of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carCar Design of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carPerformance Car of the Year -- Porsche 911 GT3Luxury Car of the Year – Mercedes-Benz S-ClassThis reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

The Avant arrives with a choice of  two efficient, direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder engines and prices starting at $81,800. The carry-all features a sleek design, lightweight construction and a generous level of standard equipment and convenience features along with an  extensive options list. Aluminium components comprise roughly 20 per cent of the body with weight reductions of as much as 70 kilograms compared with the previous model. The engine choices are 2.0-litre turbo petrol and turbo diesel with outputs of 132kW and 130kW respectively. They deliver exceptional fuel economy with the 2.0 TDI, for example, sipping 5.1 litres/100 km. Both include a start-stop system and both have continuously variable multitronic transmission (CVT). The luggage compartment has a capacity of 565 litres, which can be increased to 1,680 litres by folding the rear seats. Other standard features include the sensor-controlled, automatically opening tailgate operated hands free by passing your foot under a sensor. Both versions get Audi drive select and MMI Navigation plus. Safety is five star rated. It is in dealerships now.  

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011. 

The final piece in the A6 jigsaw puzzle was dropped from the local line-up late last year after being on sale in Australia since 2001 in both petrol and diesel guises. The former was dropped in 2006 and it stayed diesel-only until last its disappearance last year.  Audi says the A6 allroad comes with a claim of fuel use reductions by as much as 20 per cent, depending on which of the four engines is chosen - although Audi Australia is tightlipped on what's coming here. The sole petrol engine for the new model is the supercharged three-litre V6 already seen in the current line-up, but offering 228kW and 440 Nm, kicking the crossover wagon from zero to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds and claiming 8.9 litres per 100km, although not when you're flat-out testing the acceleration claim. The diesel offering is three output variations - 150kW and 450Nm, 180kW and 580Nm or the twin-turbo powerplant's 230kW and 650 Nm, with thirsts starting at 6.1l/100km. Audi says it will soon offer a low-emissions "clean diesel" 180kW engine variant, although it's not likely in Australia in the short term. The twin-turbo 230kW/650Nm three-litre gets the eight-speed automatic (the rest are seven-speed twin-clutch autos) and drops the time to 100km/h to 5.6 seconds. The new A6 gets the company's staple all-wheel drive system, albeit with the addition of the torque vectoring system, which brakes the wheels on the inside of the curve to help the car turn more easily. The new car has the sedan's electro-mechanical power steering, as well as the option of variable-ratio "dynamic" steering and the clever differential that sends power left and right across the rear axle during "enthusiastic" driving. Among the fuel-saving systems is "drive select," which allows the driver to alter the car's functions to run in an economy mode. The new A6 allroad carries over the adaptive air suspension, which was standard on the outgoing car and can drop the normal ride height by 15mm at cruising speeds and can raise between 35 and 45mm for rougher roads, with variable-speed hill descent control for the more adventurous. Standard fare in the A6 allroad quattro also includes 18in and 235/55 tyres, but optional wheels up to 20in are on offer. The new Audi A6 allroad quattro will be available in Germany from spring 2012, starting from 54,600 Euros - it will be launched in Australia in the third quarter of 2012. Audi Australia says it's too early to talk specifics on engine options, specifics on equipment and pricing - the outgoing car was priced at about $104,000 but when the model first arrived it started just under $100,000, but Audi won't say if it will sneak into the five-figure price bracket. The new A6 allroad quattro is 4940mm long, 1900mm wide and 1470mm tall, only slightly longer but 38mm wider and nearly 50mm shorter in overall height over the outgoing model. Audi says the use of aluminium has shaved about 70kg from the weight of the outgoing model. The Audi A6 allroad quattro will have available LED and xenon lighting technology, as well as getting extra trim bits on the door sills, wheelarches, a different grille and underbody protection. The infotainment system - MMI in Audi-speak - has the added function of showing the vehicle pitch as a nod to its all-terrain aims. The luggage compartment boasts 565 litres of cargo space (with folding rear seats upping it the storage space to 1680 litres) and a load-restraint rail system. Also on the features list is a head-up display, ambient LED cabin lighting, four-zone climate control, a panoramic glass roof, automatic parking assist system which steers for the driver,and the keyless entry and ignition and a 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system. There's also optional Bluetooth car phone (standard on the outgoing car) but the new model gets internet connectivity and an in-car wireless hotspot. The allroad will also have radar-based adaptive cruise control with stop and go function that applies maximum braking (below 30km/h) if it senses an impending impact, the pre-sense accident prep system (in a number of guises), lane assist, side assist blindspot warning and the night vision system

The front-wheel-drive, petrol 2.0 TFSI and diesel 2.0 TDI are examples of Audi's engine downsizing philosophy which sees large engine capacity replaced by smart forced induction techniques to achieve outstanding fuel consumption while maintaining performance and driving enjoyment. The most fuel-efficient engine in the new A6 is the 2.0 TDI. Almost entirely redeveloped, it generates 130kW/380 Nm. A multitronic CVT transmission drives the front wheels to give fuel consumption of 5.0 L/100km. It's capable of the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.2 seconds. The turbocharger with adjustable vanes (VGT) provides spontaneous torque buildup at an early stage in the cycle. The 132kW/320Nm turbo petrol 2.0 TFSI engine uses Audi's valvelift system which varies the lift of the exhaust valve. Paired with the multitronic transmission and front-wheel drive, this engine propels the A6 from 0-100 km/h in 8.3 seconds. The engine consumes 6.4L/100 km. Both of these new four-cylinder A6 variants utilise Audi efficiency technologies, including an innovative thermal management system that lowers fuel consumption by approximately 0.1 litres per 100km.  A start-stop system is also standard across the A6 range and shuts off the engine after the Audi A6 has come to a stop for further fuel savings. The energy recovery system utilises the kinetic energy of the car as it decelerates. Among the technologies in the A6 lineup is the latest version of Audi's Drive Select dynamic handling system, which now includes an additional mode the Efficiency program.