Quote:
Originally Posted by Brookside
And it's a BMW!:biggrin:
The 1-er, rwd coupe, as far as I know, stands alone in it's class in the premium tier.
The real crime is what Audi/NA has done to the A3 by limiting consumer choices with one bodystyle and mating it's hi-tech 4cyl engine with crappy
fwd. Yeah, you can get quattro (the Haldex version that is front-wheel biased)...starting at 34k+ with an iron-block V6 with no manual.
The A3, to me, is worthy competition to the 1-er, but hamstrung in the marketplace by short-sighted thinking. Nothing like sinking a
winner right from the start. But, typical of Audi. (eg. the TT's recent N/A debut is fwd only...quattro to follow in 4-6 mos.)
Go over to the A3 (8P) forums at Fourtitude.com. Post after post about how unhappy owners and potential owners are with the limited choices...this after 3 years of the model's N/A introduction. Too bad.
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Its true, they sealed their own fates when they priced that car so high. They're still hung on the FWD. I can count on 2 hands how many I've seen in the past 3 years. I think they would be a very worthy competitor. I read somewhere that the A1 wont be coming to the U.S. And as far as the 1 series goes, they are going to wait on BMW. Thats what gets under my skin. EVERYONE waits on BMW. For example, i love how the new G37 coupe came out and the Infiniti had a "tired" 335i waiting for the journalists to test. And now Audi and Benz are going to wait to see about this 1.(I'm sure they already have something in the works) I mean if BMW didnt bring this thing, i HIGHLY doubt Benz, or Audi would have tapped into this market.
On a side note: I have a little theory about why BMW is bringing this thing to NA. Here Infiniti and Lexus are slowly creaping up on the invincible 3 series. They are gaining more ground of the market, but BMW has outpaced them at a good pace also. So instead of continuing this battle, they decided to invent another series. which is a great idea. I personally believe that the Infiniti and Lexus could not make a model to compete with BMW. I believe that mainly because the price would overlap with there Nissan/Toyota counterparts... What do u think?
I mean even if BMW makes this car for a short amount of time b/c of whatever reason, it will sure as hell wet a lot of apetites. My dads 04 192hp 3600lb 325ci gets my heart going. This 1 sure as hell will.