While the brand is generally considered of equal standing alongside BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the pantheon of German luxury carmakers, Audi’s models often have arrived there in a slightly different way. Bimmers and Benzes, generally speaking, have been created with the express purpose of being luxury vehicles — which makes sense, as both have long been standalone companies without mass-market brands to work with or worry about (fairly recent developments with Mini and Smart notwithstanding). Audi, however, plays upscale
