German car companies love to copy each other. We all know this. One brand creates a niche vehicle and the rest follow suit. It’s like clockwork, watching the rest of them scramble to come out with a competitor to each brand’s newest creation, immediately after its release. One such car that might create a German niche vacuum is the Audi RS5 Sportback which just recently debuted at the 2018 New York Auto Show.
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The Audi RS5 Sportback is based on the standard A5 Sportback, a car that directly competes with the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. The RS5 Sportback is just the most potent, high-performance and most powerful version. At the moment, the most potent version of the 4 Series Gran Coupe is the BMW 440i. There’s no M Performance version, nor is there a full-on M variant. What’s more, BMW has no plans on ever creating one, at least out of this generation. However, might the existence of the newly released Audi force BMW’s hand?
In New York, I watched as several executives from rival brands stood and quietly whispered about the Audi RS5 Sportback. It’s a very cool car and it had a lot of people talking. There were even some BMW folks, who shall remain unnamed, over at the Audi stand giving it praise. Not only that but there were BMW fans who were clamoring for a full-on M4 Gran Coupe now that they’d seen the RS5 Sportback. In fact, one very serious BMW fan proclaimed that, if they had the funds, they’d buy the RS5 Sportback because it fits their needs perfectly. A BMW M4 Gran Coupe would be this person’s perfect car if it existed but, because it doesn’t, they’d have to go Audi.
Just right there, BMW lost a sale. And I’m sure this person wasn’t the only one who feels that way. There’s clearly a market for such a car, as customers are loving these sleek, four-door “coupes” due to the fact that they provide the same sporty handling as their coupe alternatives while also providing sedan-levels or practicality or more. One BMW executive felt that the sedan is dying, with more and more customers preferring these new types of four-door coupes. So it’s evident that Audi is onto something by providing such a high-performance car in this segment.
We don’t know if BMW is currently planning an M4 Gran Coupe for the future generation. But if it isn’t, if the folks in Bavaria aren’t penning such a car right now, they should start because the Audi RS5 Sportback is in town and, until BMW does something about it, it’s the only place for customers to go.
I for one would love to see a M4 Gran Coupe, and I’m sure others as well but I doubt we will see it. The RS5 Sportback works in Audi’s line up because they don’t have a RS4 saloon and hasn’t had one since 2008.
But at the same time, I don’t see why BMW wouldn’t do it. BMW M did it with the F10 5er, and the 6er and 6er Gran Coupe, I doubt it would be hard to make a M3, M4 and M4 Gran Coupe.
If BMW had the Grand coupe M4 I would have bought one 3 years ago.
Me too…100%…I love my F80, but would dump it in a heartbeat for an M4 GC
That green RS5 looks so frickin’ aggressive… Today most of Audis are incredibly ugly, for example: R8, A8, A7, A6, all Audi Qs… I don’t really see point of making M4 Gran Coupe, but that’s for BMW to decide. M6 Gran Coupe is one of the most beautiful cars ever made and was quite a big success, so M4 Gran Coupe wouldn’t be bad idea.
BMW should up their game and provide their customers with both speed and luxury. I think they should review a design for an M4 Grand Coupe and even do same for the M3 Audi and Mercedes are up to something big and if BMW sit unconcerned they would end up losing most of their customers to their rivals….Speed and Performance combined with Luxury and safety.
I never understood why BMW didn’t create an M4 Gran Coupe. It would’ve been an amazing vehicle. If they believed back in 2008 (or when did the X6 launch again?) that there was a market for a huge coupe-like SUV (and they were right!), why not for a gorgeous high performance mid-size 4-door coupe? Especially since we already have an M6 Gran Coupe and we will have an M8 Gran Coupe. I definitely hope they will respond to this by creating a superior M4 Gran Coupe to rival this Awdi. Too bad they will miss years of sales because they didn’t anticipate the demand for this segment!
Exactly bro. Regular-designed sedans are declining in sales but car makers are able to charge premium on sportback/fastback variants built on the same platforms of those same regular-design sedans, and those buyers typically spend more on optioning the their cars. Audi have smartly clued onto it hence their doubling down on A5/A7 and their performance variants which were winning all by themselves in segments (premium/executive/luxury fastback/sportback sedans) that BMW and Mercedes chose not to really focus on that much.
Perhaps the next 4GC should adopt a fastback/sportback styling with muscly strong shoulders anchoring the rear wheels all the way on through the rear, to distinguish it even further from the regular sedan design of the 3 series. In that sportback guise, it should definitely be given an M version.
As the owner of a 650GC M sport, I have pretty much already decided on the Audi RS5 sportback as my next car. It is almost the perfect car, except that I can not STAND that tacked on infotainment screen that Audi insists on. Although also kind of “tacked on,” BMW typically does a lot better job integrating their screen. I have owned 3 past BMWs and never really considered Audi. But unless BMW comes correct with an M4 gran coupe, they will likely lose me as a customer. And one more thing BMW, if you do an M4 gran coupe, PLEASE offer a sunroof as an option. A pano sunroof is standard on the Audi. I can care less about saving .1 sec at the track by having a CF roof. Besides, most of these buyers are not really tracking their cars. I likely would have gone with the M6 gran coupe, but instead I opted for the 650 M sport because I like having a sunroof.
RS5 Sportback is without any iota of doubt the deal. I can’t wait to switch to this beast the moment my leasing with BMW 440i ends in a couple of years. Thanks Audi for this making alternative. I hope BMW comes through with M4 GC. However, ‘m looking forward to embracing RS5 Sportback. Again, thanks Audi:)