Harvey
Harvey GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/11/19 3:58 p.m.

https://www.caranddriver.com/audi/rs6-avant

$112,745 est.

I guess I'm getting the Buick.

docwyte
docwyte UberDork
11/12/19 8:45 a.m.

So they say we don't want wagons because we don't buy them.  Then they finally bring us a wagon that with options will easily cost $125k or more.  So we won't buy it and they'll say it's because we don't want wagons.  WTF?!

How about bringing over the RS3 hatchback, or an A4 avant?  Something that people not only want buy but can afford?

FuzzWuzzy
FuzzWuzzy HalfDork
11/12/19 9:00 a.m.

In reply to docwyte :

Now why on earth would a manufacturer bring over something more affordable by the masses, say a $30k-ish barebones wagon that they offer in Europe when they can bring over their top of the line model for more money than most make in a year?

aw614
aw614 Reader
11/12/19 9:09 a.m.
FuzzWuzzy said:

In reply to docwyte :

Now why on earth would a manufacturer bring over something more affordable by the masses, say a $30k-ish barebones wagon that they offer in Europe when they can bring over their top of the line model for more money than most make in a year?

VW wouldn't give us a golf r wagon either

Harvey
Harvey GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/12/19 9:45 a.m.

Give it 120k miles and 16 years and you get it for the bargain price of $17k...

Eesh...

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand UberDork
11/12/19 10:06 a.m.
docwyte said:

So they say we don't want wagons because we don't buy them.  Then they finally bring us a wagon that with options will easily cost $125k or more.  So we won't buy it and they'll say it's because we don't want wagons.  WTF?!

How about bringing over the RS3 hatchback, or an A4 avant?  Something that people not only want buy but can afford?

You can buy an A4 Avant, it's just called "allroad".

https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-a4-allroad

Audi's bringing the RS6 here because Mercedes is having success with the E63 AMG wagon.

 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
11/12/19 1:43 p.m.
docwyte said:

So they say we don't want wagons because we don't buy them.  Then they finally bring us a wagon that with options will easily cost $125k or more.  So we won't buy it and they'll say it's because we don't want wagons.  WTF?!

How about bringing over the RS3 hatchback, or an A4 avant?  Something that people not only want buy but can afford?

Based on the RS3 price now, a wagon with options would still likely be $70k+.......still not in the realm for most people to afford.

KyAllroad (Jeremy)
KyAllroad (Jeremy) UltimaDork
11/12/19 1:52 p.m.
Harvey said:

Give it 120k miles and 16 years and you get it for the bargain price of $17k...

Eesh...

That one is expensive.  It has something to do with the truly catastrophic maintenance costs and service intervals (timing belts every 20K miles!!!)

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Reader Services
11/12/19 1:58 p.m.

My hope is that if super wagons like the E63 AMG and the RS6 Avant catch on enough here, manufactures might be willing to test the waters with more inexpensive models in the future.

I'm not going to hold my breath, but I can certainly hope.

 

docwyte
docwyte UberDork
11/13/19 8:57 a.m.

Mercedes sells maybe 200 E63 AMG wagons a year and they're all custom ordered.  No dealer stocks one in their on lot inventory.  So that's enough of a success for Audi to want to do the same?

The RS3 sedan costs under $60k bare bones and mid $60k's with some nice packages, no reason to believe the hatchback version would be any different.  Is it a lot?  Sure, but it's the cheapest RS option out there and people will buy a bunch of them.

Yeah, you can buy an allroad, if you want a jacked up wagon with only an automatic transmission.  No thanks...

codrus
codrus GRM+ Memberand UberDork
11/13/19 10:17 a.m.
docwyte said:

Mercedes sells maybe 200 E63 AMG wagons a year and they're all custom ordered.  No dealer stocks one in their on lot inventory.  So that's enough of a success for Audi to want to do the same?

Yeah, you can buy an allroad, if you want a jacked up wagon with only an automatic transmission.  No thanks...

I think the AMG numbers are more like 500 a year in the US, and that's roughly a third of what Audi sold in regular S6s.  So yeah, that seems like it would be a reasonable number.

AFAIK the allroad suspension geometry is the same as the normal A4, so there's nothing stopping you from lowering it.  I've certainly seem several of them around that are down in the weeds.  It's the same S-tronic dual clutch as the regular A4 too, which is pretty much the best transmission you're going to get.  If you wanted an Audi of any kind with a real manual that ship sailed a couple years ago.

Tom_Spangler
Tom_Spangler GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/13/19 10:40 a.m.

BRB, buying a lottery ticket.

Ian F
Ian F MegaDork
11/13/19 10:46 a.m.

It's easier to make a financial case to Federalize a high dollar car that you know will sell in low numbers than a mid-priced luxury car where sales figures are less predictable. 

STM317
STM317 UltraDork
11/13/19 11:10 a.m.

There were supposedly 438 2019 RS3 sedans sold in the US, so they're not flying off the shelf anymore than the larger, more expensive wagons are. A $65-70k hatch back doesn't seem like a high volume seller to me, and is probably more likely to cannibalize RS3 sedan sales than generate new sales for Audi. They'd probably rather see you in a similar priced, higher profit CUV (Macan).

Bringing the RS6 Avant means they're 1 of 2 companies offering a 6 figure super wagon. There's really not much competition in that market, and they're more likely to sell the ones they do ship here.

Bringing the RS3 hatch over means they're competing with a bunch of other sporty rides in the 60-75k range. It's not large enough to really be a family vehicle, so things like Corvettes, Caymans, high end Camaros/Mustangs/Challengers, M2, etc are all competing for the same enthusiast customer in that price range.

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