not the S3 then? There is no sedan and this would now be a sort of substitute to fill in the B8S4 Avant sales and you would gain entirely new sales from either current A3 owners looking for a performance upgrade or would be A3 buyers who would like a S variant. Discuss....

I just like the flat top roofs. Then you can place bike racks, ski racks etc. they need to bring an avant with power. Not a 200 HRP car. Boring to drive.

for the enthusiast crowd. Maybe the answer is to eliminate the 3.2 and just have a 2.0T and an S3. I bet you would have more interest in the S3 than you would in the 3.2.

So a 250HP motor in the A3 that doesn't sell well vs. a 265 HP motor that retails for more than the 3.2 and has even less mass-appeal doesn't sound like it will go over well with their US marketing strategy of higher volume sales. I wouldn't be surprised if they drop the S6 and S8 for the US next time around.

IMHO they are pushing those US buyers interested in the S4 avant toward the 3.0T A6 avant whenever it arrives.

That's of all current A3 flavors.

The only US Audi model to have a bigger decrease in US sales from '07 was the Q7, which should be no surprise given '08 fuel prices and the economy.

But, even though the '08 Q7 sales dropped 36.2% last year, they still sold 13,209 units.

*EDIT- I initially overlooked A8 sales which decreased 26.2% compared to the A3 -25.1%.

Or at the very least offer the 2.0TQ with a 6MT. I'm most likely downsizing after the B7 and an S3 would be a no-brainer.

needed for the price difference and the enthusiast's point of view is that money spent on the price difference between the 2.0T and 3.2 can be used on mods and at that point you have a much faster car that the 3.2. The S3 has an entirely different aura., it is seen as a special and unique car.

you would attract more enhusiasts and maybe even get some people coming out of cars like a GTI or MCS looking for something just a bit nicer. Or alternatively those people in the 3 series touring looking to downgrade for financial reasons. Or keep the people driving a B6/S4 Avant in the brand. It would kind of make sense.

gets people excited and often gets them thinking about other Audis that may fit their needs better. A good S3 commercial can sell A4s too.

I also think they could sell 500+ a year which would certainly be profitable.

Could they know something we don't??

Though the total number for all models sold in Canada is roughly 10% of what Audi sold in the US.

They must please the masses and bringing over the most expensive and powerful of the lowest model range they sell in the US has to be weighed extremely carefully. Simply because it is special and unique is not going to make it happen. If the A3 had gangbusters sales then it might be a different story. I think we'll sooner see them break down and offer a manual A4 avant stateside than the S3.

BMW or MB in three years. Also my point was that the 3.2 does not appeal to the standard buyer nor the enthusiast.

Oh, and what about Porsche. They cater to the enthusiast and are the most profitable car manufacturer.

Nobody would buy an S3 with even half the kind of mark-up that Porsche enjoys. Average Audi profit is $2,047 per vehicle sold.

Why do they profit so much on a car? I can tell you Porsche retains a vast majority of customers and their advertisement dollars are a fraction of Audi's. I can also tell you that Porsche has the knack of creating tons of options that lots that are expensive but ones that people will pay for.

You can make excuses all you want for Audi but they keep appealing to the masses for the one time sale. They think the Q7 is an adequate replacement for the Allroad. They think no one want's Avants. Never follow? They are following what weveryone else is doing. They are focusing more and more and large european luxury cars and not drivers cars. MTs are being eliminated and they are turning into MB.

At this rate it's going to be hard to get me into another Audi when I'm ready next year or late this year.

Their past sales history and research proves very few in the US want Avants. And even fewer want the most sporty version of an Avant. It's not an arbitrary decision. They must make sales and remain competitive. The relatively small Audi enthusiast market will not maintain their business. No matter how much we enthusiasts dislike this notion. If you could convince a few thousand enthusiasts to put money into an escrow account ready to purchase S3s at full retail price if they brought them to the US then maybe you've got a shot at changing Audi's position. Otherwise you make do with what is offered or do exactly as you intend and take your money elsewhere. A lost sale speaks more to a large business than a disgruntled enthusiast. Based on their current sales volume this has yet to happen.

the 2.0T. R20 would sound bad, so they have adopted the GTI-R name.

It is rumored to have the S3/TTS engine with the K04 and upgraded internals, fuel pump and injectors as well as keeping the haldex AWD.

I do not know about the trans options.

I do however hope that they keep the GTI-R as a low volume unit, however make it available EVERY year. Also, providing options for both 2 and 4 door, as well as 6mt and DSG would make them a huge success. I am not holding my breath about the 6mt. This is fine with me because the DSG is fantastic.

The S4 is not that big.

selling them in other markets so they've cut back on u.s. production. but i read that they are essentially selling every a3 they're importing into the US, they've just cut back on the number hence the decrease in sales.

Found an interesting link below. Unlike Porsche, Audi is run by engineers--a lot of R&amp;D, good product, but short on sales and marketing.<ul><li><a href="http://radian.org/notebook/porsche">How Porsche played the stock market</a></li></ul>

Audi only managed 5,000 A3 sales for the whole year. So that would result in very few S3 sales.

Plus all the A3s imported sold

They've been there , done that , and haven't been able to grow in prestige/sales/profitability in the US market vs MBZ/BMW buyer .
Just look at typical treatment you get at service time - I own all the German brands above currently as well as Porsche and the Audi dealership after sales treatment I get today is not much different from the VW dealers I started with 30 years ago when I had my three Sciroccos . And I have owned an Audi of some sort continuously since 1985.
So their market shift is luxury with advanced usable technology for the avg buyer ,not the 20 -something modder who relishes the low resale hit the first buyer suffers.

The service building has amenities from food to exotics to people to ask if you need anything. They kiss ass and are thankful you are there. Audi makes you feel like every repair is going to be a tooth and nail fight with attitude.