New Campaign for 2012 Audi A6 Strives to Make the Road a More Intelligent Place

HERNDON, Va., Sept. 15, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- Audi of America announces a new campaign for the 2012 Audi A6 that creatively puts focus on the increasingly challenging road conditions American drivers face today.  The message for the all-new Audi A6 centers on "making the road a more intelligent place" and will appear in print, online and broadcast advertisements beginning this month. The ads will call attention to jarring facts about today's driver, as well as the obstacles presented by today's American road.  More importantly, the ads showcase the ability of the Audi A6 to help overcome these obstacles while enhancing driver safety and enjoyment.

Shockingly, 38 million drivers on the road today would not pass their state's driver's exam(i), and across the nation, drivers encounter over 100,000 miles of crumbling highways and bridges(ii).  The U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood revealed earlier this year that a third of drivers under the age of 30 admitted to texting while driving(iii). The multi-pronged campaign for the 2012 A6 centers on Audi's mission to make the road a more intelligent place by calling attention to these issues and galvanizing enthusiasts to take action.

"The industry-leading technology in the all-new A6 is specifically engineered to analyze the road, anticipate situations for the driver, prepare for incidents and most importantly, enhance the driver's experience, making the A6 one of the most intelligent cars on the road today,"  said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer of Audi of America.  "The American road is a challenging place. Last week, President Barack Obama, in his nationally televised speech to Congress, specifically cited the need to solve the problems of the nation's infrastructure, including badly decaying roads and bridges and highways congested with traffic.  With this campaign, Audi wants to demonstrate to consumers that we recognize this and are looking into solutions that not only assist our drivers, but help to improve daily driving conditions nationwide."

The new A6 tagline – "The road is now an intelligent place" – will appear in :30 and :60 national and cable television spots, in national newspapers and online beginning this month. Additional print ads will appear in automotive magazines.

In a related effort to raise awareness of today's road conditions, Audi partnered with the SENSEable City Lab to develop the Road Frustration Index (RFI).  Using a blend of historical and real-time data, the RFI features real-time snapshots of America's roads, taking into account traffic patterns, infrastructure quality, weather patterns, driver behavior, social media comments about driving and more.  The data is measured, weighted and compiled into an overall "Index" for major cities throughout America. Individuals will be able to find the RFI for their community and compare it to that of their friends. To view the RFI, visit www.roadintel.com

The 2012 A6 is one of Audi's most innovative and technologically-advanced models to date, making 2,000 decisions per second to assist the driver. Safety in the all-new Audi A6 is enhanced by a thermal imaging camera with Night Vision Assistant to highlight pedestrians it detects in front of the vehicle, as well as the Audi Pre-Sense Plus safety system that is able to minimize accidents by warning the driver and applying the brakes with increasing force in an emergency. Other intelligent features of the Audi A6 include head-up display, which projects navigation data as a hologram that hovers over the windshield, allowing the driver to see important driving information in real time without having to divert attention from the road.  

Audi is the first company worldwide to incorporate Google Earth into its MMI® Navigation system, which combines 3-D terrain models with aerial views and a detailed street network to calculate routes seamlessly.  The A6 also features a MMI touch pad that recognizes handwriting in multiple languages, allowing drivers to perform a number of functions without taking their eyes off the road, as well as factory-installed wireless internet, enabling features such as Audi connect™ for real-time weather, traffic, news and live fuel prices.  

The A6 boasts an all-aluminum Audi 3.0 L TFSI® supercharged V6 engine with 310 horsepower. The aluminum-hybrid construction of the A6 drastically reduces the vehicle's weight, improves handling and allows for less fuel consumption.  Exclusive to Audi, the A6 also features Drive Select, a system that provides advanced control of the vehicle's adaptive suspension, dynamic steering, transmission shift characteristics and engine response. Audi Drive Select offers 27 distinct driving configurations, allowing drivers to configure vehicle drive characteristics exactly to their liking with their choice of Comfort, Auto, Dynamic or Individual settings.

For more information on the all-new Audi A6, please visit www.audiusa.com/a6 or download the new A6 iPad app in the Apple iTunes Store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audi-a6-experience/id459214436?ls=1&mt=8)

ABOUT AUDI
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. During 2010 Audi was the top performing luxury brand in Europe, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Over the next few years, AUDI AG will invest nearly $16 billion on new products and technologies. Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.

(i)  GMAC Insurance Study 2010

(ii)  Illinois PIRG Study 2010. U.S. Department of Transportation

(iii)  Consumer Reports National Research Center survey, Nov. 2010 http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2011/dot3111.html

SOURCE Audi of America, Inc.