Audi has plenty to celebrate this year, having eclipsed their previous annual sales record of 101,629 (set in 2010) with a month to go in 2011. Sales through the Thanksgiving weekend stood at 102,055 vehicles, giving Audi an amazing year to go along with having record-setting months in each of the first 10 months of the year.

To go along with new car sales, Audi also set a new record with their Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles, besting their 2008 record of 32,108. CPO sales up to Thanksgiving weekend totaled in at 33,102 which was also a 32-percent increase over the previous year’s tally.

This is the second time Audi has exceeded 100,000 in sales since it established its brand in America over 41 years ago. They expect to have a record November month as well, and figures to close the year off with a 12th record setting month.

Much of Audi’s success can probably be credited to the more aggressive styling on the new A4 and A5 models as well penetrating BMW and Mercedes-Benz‘s luxury sedan market with their A6 and A8.

BMW has already made the 2012 DTM season interesting, and now Audi is joining in on the fun by releasing several renderings of its upcoming A5 DTM race car. The two-door coupe will be the successor to Audi’s highly successful A4 DTM racer and will utilize the upcoming 2012 A5 refresh as its foundation.

Similar to all of the 2012 DTM race cars that will be campaigning the season, Audi’s A5 will feature a high-strength, carbon fiber monocoque combined with a steel tube cage. Audi is also putting a lot of focus into the safety of their vehicle, clearly knowing that accidents do happen in racing.

The first prototype of the Audi A5 DTM – internally named R17 – is currently being built at Audi Sport Ingolstadt with its debut just around the corner at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September. It will be powered by a V8 engine with around 460-hp, adopted from their successful A4 race program.

GALLERY: Audi A5 DTM Concept Renders

Audi is planning to rival the Range Rover Evoque with it’s own fastback-styled, sporty version badged as the Q4. Audi will likely launch the Q4 in 2014/2015 and will cost around £30,000 ($47,500).

Audi also expects fierce competition from the BMW X4 by the end of 2014 with the growing demand for upmarket SUVs. Audi also plans to launch a handful of new SUVs, with three sporty 4x4s in the next five years. The Q4 will be aimed at Chinese, Russian and North American markets. Accompanying the Q4 will be the Q3, Q5, Q7 and the upcoming Q2 and Q6 prepped to launch in 2016.

The Q4 will  share design elements from the A5 sportback including a five-door body style and have flared wheel arches like the old RS6, according to Autocar. The interior will share many of the same design elements as the Q5 with a five-seat arrangment, with the central rear seat indended for occasional use.

Both diesel and gas engines will likely be available with the Q4 including a 2.0-liter turbodiesel (170-hp and 210-hp), as well as a 3.0-liter V6 diesel (240-hp). There will likely be a gasoline powered 3.2-liter V6 (270-hp) as well as high-performance S model variants.

[Source: Autocar]

Jens Eklund is hardly a stranger to building high-horsepower Audi drag cars, having campaigned a wildly popular 9-second 1,000-hp Audi S6 in the past. He decided that the S6′s styling was becoming outdated, and given just how beautiful the new A5 looks, he decided to build a whole new chassis to terrorize Sweden’s drag racing tracks with.

Nothing looks better than a well-built RWD drag car that still remotely resembles an actual vehicle. Never mind the full on dragsters that hardly look like the car they’re meant to look like; we’re talking about cars like Eklund’s new A5 dragster. Even though it’s clearly a full-on drag race chassis, he’s able to retain the factory body panels given it the proper dimensions that a stock car would have. No elongated front ends here and the result is a very stunning A5 drag monster.

To maintain an engine program that clearly has been working for him, he managed to retain the powertrain from the S6, giving this A5 the same 1,000-hp he’s been campaigning, lighting up the track and storming YouTube with. We can’t wait to see how this new chassis does for Eklund and we bet it’s a pretty sight to see going down the quarter mile.

GALLERY: Jens Eklund 1,000-hp Drag Audi A5

[Source: Jalopnik]

Volkswagen is planning a coupe and convertible variant of the traditional 4-door Passat sedan/ wagon. This coupe is slated to fit below the Audi A5, as well as the convertible version.

The 2012 Volkswagen Passat is powered by a 2.5-liter 5-cylinder engine producing 170-hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. Transmission choices include a standard transmission 5-speed manual while an optional 6-speed automatic is available. There is also a pricier 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel 4-cylinder powerplant producing 140-hp and 236 lb-ft of torque. If mated to a 6-sped DSG transmission, the 2012 Passat TDI can achieve 43 mpg on the highway and have a fuel range of 800 miles.  Buyers also have the choice of the powerful 3.6-liter VR6 engine that produces 280-hp and 258 lb-ft of torque and is capable of 28 mpg. 2012 Passat pricing will start around $20,000.

[Source: EGM Car Tech]

Senner Tuning is really making some noise among Audi fanatics, having tuned the A1 previously and now releasing an RS Body Kit for the A5/S5 Cabriolet. We’re big fans of what Senner Tuning does because they focus on subtle modifications that really refine the vehicle, giving it some polish rather than changing up the styling entirely. The result are functionally clean vehicles that anyone can relate to.

For their A5 Cabriolet (all the modifications will work on the S5 Cabriolet) they outfitted it with RS5-themed mirrors and rear valence. The front grill and spoiler receives a slight overhaul – thought it was tough for us to figure out what’s the difference between our American-spec S5 and Senner Tuning’s version.

Under the hood the car receives an ECU upgrade and air filter kit to push horsepower up to 275-hp (from 211-hp) and 317 ft-lbs of torque (from 258 ft-lbs). Please note that these are the performance figures for the A5′s 2.0T powerplant. For wheels, Senner Tuning sports a pair of Varianza T1S wheels on one side and Scwhert SC1 wheels on the other side. It’s a 20×9/20×10.5 staggered setup wrapped with 245/30/20 tires in the front and 295/25/20 Vredestien tires in the rear. Senner Tuning claims that there’s no rubbing involved with this setup, which means no trimming on the fenders.

Interior upgrades include carbon fiber trim, floor mats and an S-Line sport steering wheel.

GALLERY: Senner Tuning Audi A5 Cabriolet

Official press release available after the break.

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Audi has just officially released full details and plenty of photos on their new A5 Sportback model and unfortunately the German automaker has no plans to bring the surprisingly great looking model to North America.

This hatchback version of the A5 (currently available in both Coupe and Cabriolet form) is a unique vehicle and Audi is expanding on the recently popular four-door coupe idea, delivering the A5 Sportback as a five-door (hatchback) coupe. And it seems to work, due in part to the short overhangs, long wheelbase, wide track, frameless doors. The car even sits 1.42-inches lower than the A4 Sedan and when equipped with optional 19-inch wheels looks seriously sporty.

The A5 Sportback is also a four-seater.

Five engine’s will be offered including three diesels and two gasoline powerplants. The diesels include the 2.0 TDI with 170 and 258 ft-lbs of torque, the 2.7 TDI with 190hp and 295 ft-lbs of torque and a 3.0-liter V6 TDI with 240hp and a massive 369 ft-lbs of torque. The gasoline engines are, as expected, the 2.0 TFSI engine making 211hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque and the 3.2-liter V6 with 265hp.

Cargo space is 17 cubic feet in the rear hatch, which expands to 34.61 cu.-ft. with the rear seats folded flat.

Pricing ranges from 36,050 euros for the 2.0 TDI with 6-speed manual transmission to 47,950 euros for the 3.0 TDI quattro with 7-speed S-tronic.

The A5 Sportback goes on sale this September.

GALLERY: 2010 Audi A5 Sportback

Full details and specifications after the jump:

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Audi has yet to confirm if the A5 Sportback model will make it to North America, but the German automaker did bring at least one of the upcoming cars over for a photo shoot. These pictures, snapped a student at the University of California San Diego, show a completely undisguised A5 Sportback during a photo shoot on the campus. And we have to say it looks pretty good.

Audi has only released one teaser image of the car and so these are the first full photos available.

Information on the A5 Sportback is still limited but we do know that it will be offered with five different engines in Europe. The gasoline engines are, as expected, the 2.0 TFSI engine making 211hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque and the 3.2-liter V6 with 265hp. As for the diesels, they include the 2.0 TDI with 170 and 258 ft-lbs of torque, the 2.7 TDI with 190hp and 295 ft-lbs of torque and a 3.0-liter V6 TDI with 240hp and a massive 369 ft-lbs of torque.

As for cargo capacity, Audi says the new model has 17 cubic feet of cargo space (almost the same as the A4 Avant), and 34.6 cu.-ft. with the rear seats folded flat.

The A5 Sportback goes on sale this September in Europe and an S5 model with Audi’s new supercharged 3.0-liter V6 is expected to follow.

GALLERY: Audi A5 Sportback

[Source: Fourtitude]

Audi has just announced that it will bring a Sportback version of the stunning A5 to market this year. The move by Audi comes just weeks after BMW released its 5 Series Gran Turismo.

The new model has the soul of a coupe, the comfort of a sedan and the practicality of a wagon (or Avant, as they say at Audi).

In Europe the car will initially be offered with five powertrains, including two gasoline and three diesel options. The gasoline engines are, as expected, the 2.0 TFSI engine making 211hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque and the 3.2-liter V6 with 265hp.

As for the diesels, they include the 2.0 TDI with 170 and 258 ft-lbs of torque, the 2.7 TDI with 190hp and 295 ft-lbs of torque and a 3.0-liter V6 TDI with 240hp and a massive 369 ft-lbs of torque.

As for cargo capacity, Audi says the new model has 17 cubic feet of cargo space (almost the same as the A4 Avant), and 34.6 cu.-ft. with the rear seats folded flat.

While Audi has yet to release any full photos of the car, the rear hatch section does slope off from the roof that is 1.42-inches lower than that of the A4.

Word of the new model comes from Audi in Europe, but the car will most likely make its way to North America – why else would those Europeans have listed all the stats in ft-lbs and cubic-feet, as well as Nm and liters? The only question mark is what powertrains will be offered. Diesels are unlikely and with Audi recently eliminating the 3.2 V6 from many of its vehicles, the 2.0 TFSI is the only option left.

The A5 Sportback will go on sale in Europe this September with a starting price of 36,050 Euros. If Audi does decide to bring the car to the U.S., the following Spring would be the most likely time.

Official release after the jump:

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We reported earlier today that Audi has cut the 3.2-liter V6 engine from much of its lineup and now it seems the company is expanding the use of the impressive 2.0 TFSI engine.

Starting this summer Audi will offer the A5 with the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder powerplant. Output will be rated at 211hp and 258 ft-lbs of torque. This should give the car a 0-60 time of roughly seven seconds.

News of the product change comes via Autoblog and Audi has yet to officially confirm the news. As such , it is unclear if Audi plans to offer the 2.0 TFSI A5 with its dual-clutch DSG transmission as well as a six-speed manual. Currently Audi does not offer the 2.0-liter A4 with a DSG transmission but that is likely to change with the absence of the V6.

As for the future of the V6 in the A5, it will continue on in this model as the top engine choice.

[Source: Autoblog]