"Light yellow dress, fluffy hair."
I have been brainwashed by this rap lyric in "Youth With You 2" in recent days. When he saw that the mid-term facelift of the new Audi A4L was officially launched last Friday, Mr. Ruru couldn't help but think of the above lyrics again in his mind, and couldn't help but add another sentence: What is the facelift of the Audi A4L telling? ?
The not very successful fifth-generation Audi A4L
In 2016, the fifth-generation Audi A4L was officially launched. The price range is 305,800 yuan to 396,800 yuan.
Somewhat embarrassingly, the replacement of the A4L coincides with the time when Audi is about to launch a new family-style design, so the fifth-generation A4L "regrettably" adopts the family-style design of the previous generation.
▲2016 A4L (4th generation)
▲2017 A4L (5th generation)
So we can see that the 5th generation A4L The appearance style does not show much change compared to the late 4th generation A4L.
▲2016 A4L
▲2017 A4L
Although the interior has been significantly modified, the embedded central control screen has been changed to a suspended type, and a The design of the through-type air outlet is missing, but it feels more like it has kept up with the trend of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, rather than achieving a new breakthrough in the field of luxury mid-size sedans.
In addition, there has not been a major update in terms of power, and the terminal price is much higher than that of the 4th-generation A4L, which is at the end of its life. The final result is that the 5th-generation A4L has suffered a relatively heavy blow. A long slump.
It can be clearly seen from the sales table above that the Audi A4L was able to suppress the sales of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class in 2015 and before. In 2013, the sales volume even exceeded that of the C-Class and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The combined sales of the 3 Series.
But after the launch of the fifth-generation A4L, that is, in 2016, A4L's sales declined significantly and was surpassed by the C-Class and 3 Series.
Although Audi A4L once again took the top spot in sales in 2018, the gap is no longer as big as it was with the fourth-generation A4L.
At this time, the fifth-generation A4L has already seen a significant discount. So far, the starting price of the current A4L has dropped to 230,000 yuan+, which is far lower than that of C-class and C-class cars. The starting price of the 3 Series naked car is 260,000 yuan+.
The first place obtained with a huge discount seems to be somewhat suspected of "cheating", and this is also accompanied by a decline in the Audi brand premium.
I have to say that the fifth-generation Audi A4L is indeed not very successful.
For the current A4L, whose product strength advantage is not very obvious, the mid-term facelift seems to be a good opportunity.
The facelifted A4L is trying to improve its positioning
Referring to the "routines" of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the latest family-style designs are basically first presented on large sedans, and then continue to Medium to large sedans and mid-sized sedans.
After the updated Audi A8L and A6L successively adopted the latest family-style design, it is finally the turn of the A4L.
Although compared with the current A4L, the front face of the new car does not seem to have changed significantly. The size of the air intake grille has not increased, and the "sawtooth" of the headlights has been cancelled, but the shape has not changed. big.
However, it should be noted that the interior of the light group of the facelifted A4L has changed significantly. Although it does not use matrix headlights, it is quite close to the A6L, and a new dynamic appearance design has been added. The air grille has been changed to a honeycomb shape, incorporating more of the sharpness of the RS series.
Relatively speaking, the changes at the rear of the new car are more obvious. A chrome trim strip is added above the license plate and runs through the taillights on both sides. There is no doubt that this design is a continuation of the updated A6L. The chrome trim strip above the single exhaust has also been improved, creating a more obvious sense of luxury.
On the whole, the outline of the new car does not seem to have been significantly changed, but the "refinement" of the details still brings about an improvement in appearance. This is somewhat similar to the replacement of the BMW 3 Series last year, which is not the same. It's an improvement that will cause too much controversy, which deserves recognition.
Only compared to the appearance, the improvement of the "inner beauty" of the new car seems a bit boring. It does not continue the "three-screen" virtual cockpit of the A6L, but only upgrades it on the basis of the current model—— The floating central control screen has been enlarged from 8.3 inches to 10.1 inches, and a touch function has been added. Otherwise, there are basically no major changes.
On the surface, the power is the continuation of the current model. It is still a 2.0T engine divided into three power versions: high, medium and low. The maximum power is maintained at 185kW, 140kW and 110kW, and the matching engines are also the same. 7DCT. However, Audi has upgraded the power system of the A4L across the board. The entire series is equipped with a 12V mild hybrid system as standard, which can be said to be in line with its big brother A6L.
In addition, since the size of the new car has not changed much, the internal space may not be significantly upgraded.
So on the whole, the mid-term facelift of the Audi A4L seems to be "old wine in a new bottle". The appearance has been regarded as the biggest change, but there are not as many new ideas as expected.
Perhaps they also feel that such a facelift seems slightly lacking in sincerity, so Audi chose to make up for it in terms of configuration.
Specifically, the new car’s standard configuration adds a reversing image, cruise control, panoramic sunroof, LED headlights, 12.3-inch full LCD instrument panel, leather seats, etc., which is basically equivalent to the fashion of the current A4L type configuration level.
However, the starting price of the new car has also reached 305,800 yuan, which is 19,000 yuan higher than the current model.
Considering that there is a price difference of about 30,000 yuan between the fashionable model and the lowest-equipped aggressive model, and the final selling price will mostly be lower than the pre-sale price, the facelifted A4L still seems to have a "configuration" of nearly 10,000 yuan. Sincerity".
However, don’t forget that the current Audi A4L has a terminal discount of 60,000 to 80,000 yuan.
Increase the quantity and increase the price, but it seems that the "add" is in the wrong place?
"Light yellow dress, fluffy hair." The reason why this lyric is popular is because the singer raps in a broadcast tone, and for the mid-term facelift Audi A4L, It seems to be "corrected in the wrong place".
It’s no problem to update the appearance, and it’s no problem to upgrade the configuration, but the point is that the interior of the new car has not kept up with the trend.
Some people may say that after the mid-term facelift, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class did not switch to the family-style through-type dual screens?
▲Current C-Class Interior
But looking at the previous sales, after the replacement in 2014, the sales volume of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class jumped from 30,00 to 150,00 , not to mention that the C-class doesn’t have to worry too much about the terminal premium, and the renovation of the interior is not that urgent.
But the situation of Audi A4L is obviously not like that of the C-class. If it wants to improve its positioning, it should naturally show more highlights.
Now it happens that the C-class has failed to use through-type dual screens, and the interior design of the updated BMW 3 Series has not made a major breakthrough. If the A4L can inherit the "three-screen" interior of the A6L , will undoubtedly become the model with the highest intrinsic value among the three, and this may become a new selling point of A4L.
▲The interior of the current A6L
However, the reality is that the "facelifted" A4L may become one of the few models in the Audi family to use the interior of the previous generation family.
After all, the updated Audi A3, which was also released recently, has adopted Audi's new interior design language, and the sedan version will be lengthened when it is produced in China in the future, and the space gap with the A4L will be narrowed.
This also seems to mean that the replacement of A3L will form internal competition with A4L.
▲Replacement of the A3 interior
Speaking of this, everyone will probably think of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and A-Class, because the A-Class was also lengthened when it was produced in China, and was used in It adopts the latest family-style design, but it does not threaten the C-class in terms of sales.
One issue that needs attention here is the gap between A-level and C-level in other aspects.
To be specific, the updated A-Class is front-wheel drive, and the main model uses a slightly lower-end 1.3T+7DCT combination. Moreover, the low-end models have a rear torsion beam non-independent suspension, and the interior also has wide black edges. The dual 7-inch through-type dual screens do not seem to be particularly sincere.
▲ Low-end A-class interior
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is rear-wheel drive, and the lowest configuration starts with 1.5T. The entire series uses four-wheel independent suspension and a 10.25-inch suspended central control Although the interior of the screen is a bit outdated, it seems to be more durable than the dual 7-inch low-end A-class.
Therefore, when potential consumers who value A-class prices go to the store, they will find that low-end models are not as good as they imagined, while the prices of high-end models are already close to C-segment, so it is better to go directly to C-segment. .
▲The overseas version replaces the A3 hatchback
However, the relationship between A4L and A3L is different. After all, although the platforms are different, both are precursors. With reference to the current A3, the future A3L may not do anything "tampering" with the central control screen and rear suspension.
The situation of the facelifted A4L and the updated A3L in the future may become a bit embarrassing.
Written at the end
At the end of the article, Ru Rujun couldn't help but think of another "famous quote" from "Youth With You 2" - it's like a dream, wake up I am still very touched after a long time...
The mid-term facelift of the Audi A4L shoulders the dream of improving its positioning, but if the starting price of the A4L after its launch really falls around 300,000 yuan, then this It seems like it’s time to wake up from the “dream”. After all, a similar situation has already happened once when the fifth-generation A4L was launched.
But what Cherujun is more willing to believe is that the A4L after the mid-term facelift will directly continue the preferential measures for cash, but the range will be reduced, making the starting price of the terminal fall at 260,000 yuan+, that is, It is on par with the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3 Series.
With nearly 30,000 yuan in configuration upgrades and improved appearance, it does not seem difficult to maintain the leading position of current models in the same level. Moreover, its own positioning has also been improved, and the task of mid-term facelift is also It's done. As for the ultimate move, leave it to the vertical replacement later.
Therefore, whether the facelifted A4L will experience the sluggish sales of the fifth-generation model when it was first launched depends on how Audi handles it in the future.
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This article is from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.