Five-millionth Audi A4 rolls off the assembly line

Audi is pleased to announce today that the five-millionth A4 has officially left their Ingolstadt assembly line. First introduced in 1994, few can argue that the A4 has played a pivotal role in the overall success story of the Audi brand (especially in the United States). As pictured above, the "Jubilee car" came in the form of a Misano Red, A4 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro. Official press release after the jump.

Press Release:

Ingolstadt, 2011-03-30: Today the Audi plant in Ingolstadt produced the five-millionth Audi A4 – an Audi A4 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro in Misano Red. This production milestone is the latest evidence of a success story that began in 1994 when the A4 model name was adopted. A great favorite with customers, the A4 accounts for a high proportion of production capacity at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm plants.

In the words of Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG: “This is another major milestone in Audi’s history. All versions of the A4 are efficient, elegant and enjoy outstanding success in their class. Our highly motivated team and our effective Audi production system will keep this model on course for continued success in the future.” Audi began production of the A4 model line at its Ingolstadt site in 1994, and since 2007 has also been building it at Neckarsulm as part of the production turntable. Today the A4 Sedan, A4 Avant, A4 allroad quattro, S4 Sedan and S4 Avant are manufactured in Ingolstadt; the A4 Sedan also leaves the assembly line in Neckarsulm.

“The success of the entire A4 model family keeps our two main production plants fully occupied and safeguards the workforce’s jobs,” says Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council. “Audi owes this success to its employees, who have invested so much know-how, quality awareness and dedicated work in the A4.”

Peter Kössler, Ingolstadt Plant Manager, declares: “The A4 success story at this production plant is impressive evidence of the performance that the Ingolstadt team is capable of. As the assembly lines become more and more complex, the task can only be handled with lean processes and the motivation of a high-performance team – just like we have at Audi.”

With its sporty chassis and many comfort, convenience and infotainment features taken directly from the full-size category, the A4 is a perfect expression of Audi’s technical expertise. Customers and car journalists alike vote it to the top of the list, as proved by the many awards it has gained. Readers of the German car magazine auto motor und sport were evidently convinced: In January they chose the A4 as “best midsize car” for the fourth year in succession.

The Audi A4 also scores impressively on the list of German-market cars that keep their value best. Auto Bild car magazine and residual value assessor EurotaxSchwacke chose it as the midsize car with the highest value retention, and the Audi Q5 gained the same title in the compact SUV class. These “Top Value for 2011” awards were presented in December 2010.

Source: Audi AG