When it comes to Audi, what is your first reaction? A sense of technology, German quality, or the classic phrase “breakthrough technology, enlighten the future”? Recently, this German luxury brand has made a big move in the US market—the 2025 Audi A5 is officially launched, with a starting price of about ₹40 lakhs . Interestingly, this new car is not only ₹4 lakhs more expensive than the old A4, but also directly replaces the A4. What’s more curious is that the price has increased, but the acceleration is 0.4 seconds slower. What’s the trick? Don’t worry, follow me to uncover the secret of this luxury car that “increased in price and reduced in configuration” and see what drama Audi is playing this time.
1. Coupe Looks, Family Car Practicality: Audi’s Masterstroke
Mr. Wang, who was still struggling to decide between A4 and BMW 3 Series last year, recently encountered a new problem at the 4S store. The place where A4 was originally placed in the showroom has now been replaced by the more streamlined A5. The sales consultant told him: “Now A4 has been discontinued, and the A5 you see is the replacement.” What surprised Mr. Wang even more was that although this new car has a “5” tail mark, the price is 13% more expensive than the old A4. As an old Audi owner, he really couldn’t figure it out: Isn’t it just a change of name? Why is it so much more expensive?
Actually, Audi has a big chess game behind this. The new A5 is not just a simple name change, but a “big change” from chassis to powertrain. To give an intuitive example, the new 2.0T engine has a maximum power increase of 7 horsepower, and the torque has soared from 273 Nm to 400 Nm, which is equivalent to filling the engine with a can of “Red Bull”. What’s more exaggerated is that the four-wheel drive system is now standard, which is an optional configuration on the old A4.
But what’s interesting is that although the power parameters have increased, the official 0-100km/h acceleration time has changed from 5.2 seconds to 5.6 seconds. This seemingly contradictory data is actually because the new car uses a more complex mild hybrid system. It’s like tying sandbags to a sprinter for training. Although it temporarily slows down the speed, it is for more sustained power output and lower fuel consumption. Actual test data shows that the fuel consumption of this new powertrain is 8% lower than that of the old model, which is equivalent to saving the money of two cups of Starbucks per 100 kilometers.
2. Visible upgrade: from engineer to sportsman
If you have seen the old A4 and A5 competing on the same stage, you will find that this generation change is simply a “facelift-level” transformation. The designers have taken the coupe element to a new level: the height of the car is directly reduced to 1.44 meters, which is a full mineral water bottle lower than the ordinary car. This “flying close to the ground” posture makes the new A5 as conspicuous as a cheetah mixed in with a group of penguins in the parking lot.
The most eye-catching thing is the lighting system. The matrix LED headlights can project personalized light signatures. When waiting for the traffic light, your headlights can display the words “please go first” on the zebra crossing. The taillights even use OLED technology, and the dynamic effect when braking is like the energy ripples in science fiction movies. One car owner joked: “Now when driving at night, the drivers behind me actively keep a safe distance, for fear of missing my taillight show.”
Sitting in the car, the sense of technology hits you. The center console consists of three large screens, and the 14.5-inch center console screen is larger than many people’s laptops. Interestingly, the 10.9-inch entertainment screen in front of the co-pilot has a hidden secret – when it detects that the driver is concentrating on driving, it will automatically reduce the brightness to prevent interference with driving. This detailed design is like installing a “sensible” AI butler for the car system.
3. Invisible competition: the logic of the hidden battle in the luxury car market
The price has increased by around 5 lakh. Does Audi really think that consumers are stupid and have a lot of money? Just look at the configuration list and you will understand that this price increase is actually a “clear decrease but a hidden increase”. The sports package, full LCD instrument panel, and intelligent driving assistance system that were required to be installed on the old model are now standard. A savvy car owner did the math: if these required configurations are packaged and calculated, the actual transaction price is actually more cost-effective than the old model.
What is more interesting is the adjustment of market positioning. By shortening the wheelbase by 43 mm, Audi successfully separated the user groups of A5 and A4. It is like changing the seats in Starbucks from soft sofas to high stools. Although some comfort is sacrificed, the real target customers are successfully screened. Data shows that after the new model was released, the proportion of post-90s customers in the store soared from 35% to 58%, proving that this sporty strategy really hits the G-spot of young people.
Here is a real case: Mr. Zhang, who works in Silicon Valley, originally planned to buy a Tesla Model 3. After test driving the A5, he was impressed by its perfect balance of mechanical texture and intelligence. He said: “Electric cars are like smartphones, and the A5 is more like a Swiss Army Knife – it has both a sense of technology and the warmth of mechanical aesthetics.” This precise differentiated competition has allowed the A5 to find a unique living space in the wave of electrification.
4. Is it worth buying? This is how the account should be calculated
Audi’s response to the question of price increase is textbook-level. They focus on promoting the “3-year value retention rate of 68%”, which is 5 percentage points higher than the old model. Based on the price of ₹40 lakhs, it is equivalent to an extra 2,04,343 INR in three years. Add to that the value increase of the standard configuration, and the actual cost of using the car may be lower.
For ordinary consumers, the key to choosing lies in the order of needs. If you pursue the ultimate home space, the Cadillac CT5 next door may be more suitable; but if you want a car that can show personality and is practical, the new A5’s sporty soul and technological weapons are indeed irreplaceable. Just like choosing a mobile phone, some people want battery life, some people want to take pictures, and the A5 is obviously a perfect compromise for those consumers who “want both”.
Standing at a busy intersection, watching the new A5 elegantly passing through the streets, I suddenly realized that Audi’s ambition is not just to build cars. They are redefining the value standard of luxury sports cars – not simply stacking configurations, but finding new survival rules for fuel vehicles in the era of electrification through precise product positioning. This seemingly price-raising drama is actually a carefully planned value revolution. When you hesitate about the price tag of the new A5 in the showroom, think about it: you are not only buying a car, but also a brand’s gamble on the next decade.