Audi intros long-wheelbase A4L for China
Click above for more high-res pics of the Audi A4L
Audi has just introduced a long-wheelbase version of its new A4 for the Chinese market, joining the long-wheelbase A6 that has been available in China since 2000. While many automakers have recognized the Chinese desire to have a little extra length, this is the first time a vehicle in this size class has been elongated. Labeled as a premium B segment car in China, the Audi A4L's wheelbase is 2.36 inches longer than the standard A4, most of which gets added to rear-seat legroom. The A4L will be built in Changchun, China and will feature a chassis specially designed to handle the sometimes-rough Chinese road conditions. Engine options will be the 180-hp 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder and the 265-hp 3.2 FSI six-cylinder. The Audi A4L will debut at the Guangzhou Motor Show on November 18, and should be in Chinese dealerships by January 2009. Full press release after the jump.
Gallery: 2009 Audi A4L
[Source: Audi]
PRESS RELEASE
Audi presents long-wheelbase A4 for the Chinese market
- First long-wheelbase version in China's premium B segment
- Marketing and Sales Board Member Schwarzenbauer: "We will export the success of the new Audi A4 to China"
- Market launch in January 2009
Manufactured at the plant in Changchun, China, the new Audi A4L made its debut yesterday in Beijing. Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG, and the President of the FAW-VW joint venture, An Tiecheng, emphasized the importance of the new Audi A4L for the Chinese market.
Schwarzenbauer said: "The long-wheelbase version of the Audi A4 is being produced exclusively in China for the Chinese market. With this premium product, we chose to go even further than elsewhere in the world to meet the requirements of our Chinese customers."
Since its worldwide market launch last year, over 200,000 units of the Audi A4 have been sold. It was recently voted "Most Beautiful Car of the Year" by readers of Auto Bild, a German automotive magazine, and thus overall winner of the „Auto Bild Design Award 2008".
"Our goal is to export the success of the new Audi A4 to China. With the customized Chinese A4L, which we subjected to rigorous testing in China, we are impressively demonstrating our market leadership in China's premium segment," added Schwarzenbauer.
With the A4L, Audi has created an automobile which outdoes the competition in terms of driving comfort, luxury, spaciousness, and design. The chassis was tailored to Chinese road conditions to provide exceptional suspension comfort. The wheelbase – 60 millimeters (2.36 inches) longer than the A4 sedan's wheelbase – makes the A4L a unique vehicle. The longer wheelbase lends the A4L an especially roomy feel and makes getting into the rear seats even easier. In addition, the longer wheelbase is of particular benefit to rear-seat passengers, who can enjoy legroom unparalleled in this vehicle segment. Thanks to the increase in length and high-quality technology, the A4L injects full-size class into the mid-size category.
For the time being, two engine versions will be available for the Audi A4L in the Chinese market: the 2.0 TFSI with 132 kW (180 hp) and the six-cylinder 3.2 FSI with 195 kW (265 hp).
Audi has been offering a long-wheelbase version of the A6 in China since 2000. Now in its second generation, it provides better driving comfort, spaciousness, and design than the competition. Drivers and passengers of the 4.76 meter (15.62 feet) long A4L will enjoy similar advantages as it can be enjoyed as both a driver's car and a chauffeured luxury sedan.
The Audi A4L, which will be rolled out starting at the Guangzhou Motor Show on November 18, will be at Chinese dealerships as of January 2009.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John Johnson 1:33PM (11/17/2008)
The shortest people need more rear leg room? What? :D
Why is the 2.0TFSI only making 180HP? You'd think on a luxury car, that was made bigger, they'd at least have the standard 200.
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dukeisduke 1:37PM (11/17/2008)
Are they thinking that Yao Ming will want a ride sometime in the future?
sk 1:37PM (11/17/2008)
Chinese horses are smaller too.
jackson liu 2:31PM (11/17/2008)
>>The shortest people need more rear leg room?
now, this is a really nice and respectful way to refer to 1/5th of the World's population
John Johnson 2:33PM (11/17/2008)
1/5 of the population or not, it is a biological fact that their legs are less than the average length of other geographical regions.
jackson liu 2:35PM (11/17/2008)
great!!!!
so now, let's make fun of them!!
John Johnson 2:37PM (11/17/2008)
I don't believe anyone was making fun of them or mocking them. Their genetic traits would lead one to believe that their market would have the least demand for a car with an extended wheelbase.
I'm not being racist, I'm just pointing out a fact. I didn't know that it would be racist to talk about biological traits. I guess that's now a stereotype.
Aki 2:54PM (11/17/2008)
You seem to be confusing wit for racism.
jackson liu 2:56PM (11/17/2008)
>> The shortest people need more rear leg room? What?
phrase written with irony = mocking
I don't think you were simply pointing out the fact that chinese people are short. (irony...)
because:
1) there was absolutely no reason in this post to discuss about the average height of the chinese
2) obviously people don't elongate their cars because they HAVE THE NEED for more room for the legs... (except for Shaquille's gallardo...). A LWB vehicle has more prestige and status, or do you really think those Town Car limos are built because they carry 13' people? (even if a LWB A4 doesn't make any sense...)
ryskt 4:12PM (11/17/2008)
Isn't there anything that someone doesn't proclaim mock offense to anymore?
Short people don't need longer cars... That was exactly my first thought as well.
Go find something else to do with your time.
Randy915 7:32PM (11/17/2008)
Johnson >> aren't you paint with a broad brush there or just pinpointing to the select Chinese that are short? As a matter of fact, I know quite a few number of Chinese that are near or over 6ft, isn't that the average American height?
Let me guess, you still call them Orientals just like a ramen flavor...
John Johnson 7:47PM (11/17/2008)
Ugh, you kids.
I'm not stereotyping.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/155/4/346.pdf
Mean height (cm) 164.8 for Chinese (That's 5' 4.9")
Mean height (cm) 176.8 for Caucasians (That's 5' 8")
If I were being racist I would have likely made a comment about the stereotypical conceptions of Asians driving, but I wouldn't do that because that's just retarded.
Chinese people ARE SHORTER BIOLOGICALLY THAN CAUCASIAN AMERICANS. THIS IS A FACT AND IS NOT RACIST. You people are unbelievable.
Back to the CAR PLEASE.
big j 8:30PM (11/17/2008)
now how f'in ridiculous is it to think that a survey of 1,500 out of 1bill+ people would reap decent results.
tekd 10:28PM (11/17/2008)
Than other geographical regions? Where exactly are you comparing to? You seem to be pulling this stuff out of your butt, since the average Chinese person is taller than plenty of other people-taller than people in India, most Pacific Islanders (philippines, malaysia, indonesia, etc.), Vietnam, Bahrain, whatever.
Anyways, most of the height difference has to do with nutritional differences not some sort of inherent genetic height difference-the average height in China has been going up ever since food has become less scarce. 100 years ago most American were a LOT shorter and it had nothing to do with genetics.
The average height of a Chinese teenager is now 2 inches taller than their 30-50 year old parents, and nutrition still isn't as good as in the US.
But you have to keep in mind people who ride around in Audi A4's tend to have had more food to eat than people who work for $4 a day, so chances are that the people riding around in an A4L with a chauffeur are plenty tall.
And with 1.3 billion people even if the average person is shorter there'll still be plenty of tall people. If the average Chinese person was the same height as the average American there would be 4x as many crazy tall people because there's 4x as many Chinese people.
I really hate it when people come up with stupid statistics about people of a particular ethnicity or whatever (I'm a med student)-people love to do this with medical stats but most of the time the information is all but pointless since people have much more in common than they're different.
Merkidemis 1:44PM (11/17/2008)
Isn't a long A4 an A6?
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Torrent 1:45PM (11/17/2008)
um.. just get an A6
durr
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empowah 2:09PM (11/17/2008)
In mainland China, there's no regular wheelbase A6... there's only the A6L.
Torrent 2:21PM (11/17/2008)
that's retarded.
Victor 2:35PM (11/17/2008)
In china, the A6L is extended a good 6 inches over the A6 platform. It makes the back seat pretty comfortable; which is good, since most people in that vehicle purchasing segment there prefer to be driven by a chauffeur.
P.V. 1:46PM (11/17/2008)
I understand the desire for LWB versions of flagships. I don't understand the need for LWB versions of entry-level vehicles, especially if there is a mid-level vehicle filling between the entry-level and flagship vehicles (case in point A6).
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