The Audi A4 is a line of luxury compact executive cars produced since by the German car manufacturer Audi , a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The A4 has been built in five generations and is based on the Volkswagen Group B platform. The first generation A4 succeeded the Audi The automaker's internal numbering treats the A4 as a continuation of the Audi 80 lineage, with the initial A4 designated as the B5-series, followed by the B6, B7, B8, and the B9.
The Audi A4 automobile layout consists of a front-engine design , with transaxle -type transmissions mounted at the rear of the engine. The cars are front-wheel drive , or on some models, " quattro " all-wheel drive. The A4 is available as a sedan and station wagon.
Historically, the second B6 and third generations B7 of the A4 also included a convertible version. The first generation Audi A4 known internally as the Typ 8D debuted in October , [ 5 ] [ 6 ] with production starting November and European sales commencing in January for the model year. North American sales later began in September for the model year.
It had a front-mounted longitudinal engine and front-wheel drive. Many variations of the A4 were also available with Audi's quattro four-wheel drive system. Development began in , with the first design sketches being created later that year. By , an exterior design by Imre Hasanic was chosen and frozen for November production by The interior design was later finalized in , with pilot production commencing in the first half of Development concluded in the third quarter of , preceding November start of production.
A wide range of engines were available in European markets, between 1. The 2. The Audi A4 was the first model in the Volkswagen Group to feature the new 1. A turbocharged 1. Moreover, a quattro GmbH special edition of the B5 1.
