Sunday, October 11, 2009

Report: Audi to Cancel RS4 Sedan, S4 and A4 Cabriolets

. Sunday, October 11, 2009

There's been much speculation regarding the fates of some of Audi's most beloved performance models. Considering there is no "official" release from Audi, we've put together what we feel is the most accurate consolidation of the current rumors regarding the future of the Audi RS4, A4 Cabriolet and S4 Cabriolet.

News first broke from 4WheelsNews, where according the their "source from Ingolstadt," "Audi killed the plans for a RS4 successor due to poor sales." In addition to the RS4, 4WheelsNews also reported that the A4 and S4 Cabriolets will also hit the chopping block. Noting their speculation that Audi was cancelling these models because the company "wants to focus on hybrids and environmentally friendly vehicles."

Following that, Quattroworld posted a carbon copy of the 4WheelsNews article and commented that they were not at all surprised by this action by Audi, but do expect to see the RS4 resurrected at a later date.

So this led us to wonder if these rumors and speculation were in fact true. Seriously, anyone can say they have a "source from Ingolstadt." For all we know it could be a friend who happens to live in the German town. So we thank George at Fourtitude for sorting things out. As far as we're concerned, Fourtitude may be the most reliable Audi source next to the manufacturer themselves.

Bottom line, according to Fourtitude, the RS4 Sedan will be cancelled due lack of demand. However, the RS4 will live on in Avant form, most likely in Europe only (just like the B5 RS4). As for the A4, S4 and RS4 Cabriolets, they will indeed be canceled and replaced by the A5, S5 and RS5 variants.

We hope that clears up some of the confusion. Remember, even though we trust the reports of Fourtitude, until Audi officially comments, it's all part of the rumor mill.

Source: 4WheelsNews, Quattroworld and Fourtitude