The current Audi A4, though handsome, has become a bit long in the tooth, now.
The Audi A4 has been crucial for the German carmaker and has cemented their position in several markets across the globe. This compact executive saloon has been facing some serious heat from its BMW and Mercedes-Benz rivals, of late. The BMW 3-Series has received several facelifts and upgradation, same applies to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The latter is one of the best looking executive saloons in the market, we think. Audi has now taken this game seriously and are coming all guns blazing with their upcoming 2016 Audi A4. Official pictures of the car are yet to be released by Audi, but unsurprisingly, someone quite naughty has clicked a few spy images and these have been leaked. By the way, the new Audi saloon is to be officially showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this year.
The headlight design resembles a bird’s wing. Doesn’t it?
The grille on the 2016 Audi A4 has 8 horizontal bars running across, the old one has 7. The overall grille itself looks larger and has a more purposeful look to it. It has got the new trapezoidal design that newer Audi cars, such as the 2016 Audi Q7, have. There is also a thin chrome strip running along the borders of the front grille and it looks nice. This wider and more aggressive front grille, makes the new Audi A4 appear more dauntless. The headlights look like a bird’s wing and inside them, we find a projector lamp and a plethora of the 21st century must-have – LED lights. These LEDs form part of the turn indicators and the ubiquitous daytime running lights (DRLs).
Yes, the interior possibly won’t blow you away.
Yes, we know these are just spy shots. However, it’s hard to get away from the fact that maybe, the people behind the design of this interior, seemingly haven’t added anything very new to it. Of course, it will be very well built, just like every other Audi. But where’s all the doodad that one expects to see in a posh German executive saloon? That said, it does seem to have all the stuff you need; climate-control, Audi’s MMI system that controls various functions, a tablet-like display etc. It does look very minimalistic on the inside, and that’s probably what Audi was aiming for. Talking of the tablet-like display, we are not sure if that recedes into someplace (like it does in the A7), but we doubt if the A4 will have that nifty feature. Regardless, you can well expect superb crispness from that display.
The centre console of the 2016 Audi A4 looks more mature somehow.
The centre console of 2014 Audi A4 for comparison.
The spy photos clearly indicate that Audi has been busy working away on the finer bits of the interior. The newer car’s centre console looks far less cluttered and the sizes of various buttons and knobs have gone up, whereas the gearshift lever has become smaller and now resembles the one found on the current Audi A8. The multimedia controller, or MMI, has moved ahead of the gear lever. The auto start-stop and electronic parking brake buttons have been shifted to the rear of the gear lever. The overall design looks far more simpler, yet retains some charm. However, as a whole, the interior still doesn’t feel as classy and elegant as the one in the new C-Class.
This 2.0 TDI motor of the current A4 makes 177 horsepower.
The 2016 Audi A4 will get a wide array of engine options; There are the petrol TFSI units which might employ cylinder deactivation for better fuel consumption, then there’s Audi’s popular TDI oil-burners which will be identical to the current TDI engines and a hybrid A4 which will have a diesel engine and some electric motors. We can expect to see the 1.4 TFSI (which could be mated to Audi’s first 9-speed gearbox) and the ever popular 2.0 TDI motors in the Indian market. But the whole range of engine choices for India are yet to be seen. Also, thanks to the use of the VW Group’s second generation MLB platform, the 2016 Audi A4 will be a whole 100kg lighter than outgoing model. We expect better fuel burn figures, too. Tell us what you think of the 2016 Audi A4 in the comments section, below.
Spy images from – autohome.com.cn