Audi adds gear to A6 range

AUDI has sweetening its mid-size A6 range by offering up to $8000 worth of extra equipment without altering its pricing.

Pricing remains at $77,900 excluding on-road costs for the entry-level four-cylinder 2.0 TFSI and tops out at $119,700 for the 3.0 TDI Biturbo Quattro.

The German car-maker has boosted standard gear in its base variants, with the 2.0 TFSI petrol and 2.0 TDI diesel both picking up the S line exterior package that the company says will “enhance the model’s confident stance on the road”.

The S line package includes ‘sporty’ side sills, side ventilation grilles, a rear diffuser insert painted in grey, a chrome-plated exhaust tip and S line badging.

Further to this, Audi is now including 18-inch alloy wheels (up from 17-inch), Xenon headlights and Audi’s ‘Parking System Plus’ which features front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera as standard on the base petrol and diesel.

Audi has upped the value on one of its many options packages, with the Technik package now featuring a 360-degree camera to assist with parking and four-zone climate control air conditioning.

This is on top of the already included sports steering wheel with paddle shifters, lane keeping assist and blind spot warning, folding external mirrors and DAB plus digital radio.

The price of the Technik package when added to the 2.0 TFSI and 2.0 TDI is $3000.

This is available for the same cost in Audi’s six-cylinder A6 variants – 2.8 FSI, 3.0 TDI, 3.0 TFSI and the 3.0 TDI Biturbo – although in the six-pot variants, the package also consists of LED headlights and an electric sunroof unless it is already standard. The aforementioned six-cylinder variants gain four-zone climate control air conditioning and 19-inch alloy wheels, up from 18-inch hoops, as new standard features.

Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle said the inclusion of extra standard equipment at no added cost makes the executive sedan more accessible than ever.

“With a broad range of powerful and efficient four- and six-cylinder engines, the Audi A6 naturally attracts customers who are looking to own a sophisticated executive sedan,” he said.

“With these additional features we are announcing, Audi’s progressive technology is well within their grasp.”

The 2014 model year additions come almost a year after Audi dropped the price of its six-cylinder A6 variants by between $2400 and $9000 apiece and almost two and a half years after the model launched in Australia in July 2011.

In that first year of release, the A6 was the third best selling premium mid-size car in Australia, with 710 sales, trailing the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (1386 sales) and BMW 5 Series (1384 sales).

This year the A6 sales have slid and are down 15 per cent to the end of October when compared to the same period last year, with 415 units shifted.

It now sits in fifth place behind the recently facelifted Mercedes E-Class on 1108 sales, 939 sales for the updated 5 Series, 715 for Jaguar’s resurgent XF and 420 units for the Lexus GS.

Audi A6 pricing*

2.0L TFSI multitronic (a)	$77,900
2.0L TDI multitronic (a)	$79,500
2.8L FSI quattro S tronic (a)	$91,900
3.0L TDI quattro S tronic (a)	$108,400
3.0L TFSI quattro S tronic (a)	$115,300
3.0L TDI Biturbo quattro tiptronic (a)	$119,700