It did say an "Audi Rival"

vague shades of an A% ?

Edited by Xileno on 09/04/2021 at 07:26

Should have specifically said, nothing about re-badged Audi's mentioned!.

As to the fact that it is made in China and has torsion beam rear suspension?. Most manufacturers now make cars in China, that is nothing new in itself. The suspension, well it does say in the article the majority will be sold in China, where the saloon car is very much still the favoured body style, (particularly with plenty of rear legroom) but handling prowess is largely irrelevant. Hence the less sophisticated but cheaper to produce rear suspension.

Edited by Xileno on 09/04/2021 at 07:27

What happened to DS then? I thought that was supposed to be the upmarket, sporty Citroen when they were split off a few years ago. Followed by a spectacular drop in sales of DS models, especially the DS3, which previously was very popular.

So much confusion on this thread.

Andy, we are indeed talking about DS!

The DS9 is the new large saloon based on the current Peugeot 508.

Shame Citroen have decided to build it in China, not sure how the patriotic French will feel about that.

I suspect that it will be another sales flop over here, no matter how good it is.

Followed by a spectacular drop in sales of DS models, especially the DS3, which previously was very popular. ---

Probably because they subsequently upped the prices. Not every brand can be premium can it?

The article is actually about it coming to the UK and gives a price. So it will be coming although no doubt in small numbers.

Oops!, I'd be no use describing a suspect to the Police :-(

I'm very surprised though, given DS are not actually doing that well sales wise, why would they be wasting time bringing in this, which hardly anyone will buy?. The only saloon cars which do a lot of sales in the UK are ones pedalled by Audi, BMW and Mercedes.

China was the source of the Mk 1 Skoda Superb. It was manufactured originally in China as a China only model LWB Passat for the new money in China and Skoda saw it as the perfect base for a range flagship. Skoda grille and badges were the only changes made.

As noted above saloons are not the biggest sellers in the market now (Audi, BMW and Merc are exceptions) even the Passat saloon is not a great seller (think the Estate outsells it) so its easy to see why Skoda have made the Mk 2 and Mk 3 Superb's hatches but retained a small boot deck to keep a saloon profile, keeps all markets happy.

though maybe the stories combine at some point.

very possible but just found this:

"The first generation of the modern Škoda Superb used the Volkwagen group B5 PL45+ platform which was also used on 1999 Shanghai–Volkswagen Passat B5 LWB"

But considering the Chinese LWB Passat seems to predate the Phaeton by approx 4 years and the Superb arrived in 2001 logic seems to suggest the Chinese connection is more logical.

Perhaps the Phaeton was originally intended to be a LWB Passat but as we know ended up being based on the same platform as the Bentley Continental

It was a disappointment that Skoda dropped the 'Twin Door' arrangement the Superb Mk2 had, which offered the option of either opening a saloon boot or hatchback by altering the order in which buttons were pushed.

Might have been practical, but it was a somewhat awkward looking car. The estate was (IMO) a much more balanced looking thing.

The Renault Safrane had an arrangement (just the top of the range versions), where was a separate glass window which sealed the space behind the rear headrests. Meaning the rear seat occupants were sheltered from the elements were the tailgate opened.