Revised diesel offers 112g/km CO2 for 16% company car tax in 2012

HOT on the heels of BMW’s new BMW 3 Series announcement comes Audi with news of its updated A4 Saloon (including the sports S4 version) and estate car Avant ranges.

Audi, clearly not content to let BMW hog the spotlight, has introduced some visual tweaks to the A4, but more importantly for business car drivers, a variety of efficiency gains that lower CO2 emissions.

So what are they? Among the changes are a revised 2.0 TDI for the key 136PS company car Saloon model. CO2 emissions drop from 120g/km to 112g/km – oh so tantalisingly close to the 110g/km FYA (First Year Allowances) tax break. But the lowered CO2 helps the Saloon avoid a greater benefit in kind hike when the company car tax bands are realigned in April 2012.

So, whereas the existing model will incur an 18% company car tax band (up from 13%), the latest model will qualify for a 16% company car tax banding.

But that’s not the end of the news for business car drivers. There’s a new 2.0 TDI with 163PS (replacing the 170PS model with 134 CO2 emissions) that might make more sense for business car drivers wanting a bit of extra zip. CO2 on the new engine is just 115g/km – a significant reduction – meaning this car will qualify for benefit in kind company car taxation of 17% in 2012/13, whereas the older 170PS unit would be rated at 20%.

And what does all this CO2 reduction mean in terms of pounds in your pocket?

Without UK prices, we don’t know yet the full benefit in kind impact, but it does mean you will be able to stretch a gallon of diesel further to ease wallet pressures. The latest 112g/km car will travel 67.3mpg (previously 61.4mpg), while the new 115g/km 163PS model goes 64.2 miles (old 170PS model = 55.4mpg).

Of course, diesels aren’t everybody’s thing. And Audi has made impressive progress with its petrol engines. The highlight includes a new 1.8-litre TFSI engine with a zingy 170PS and 320Nm of torque, and impressive economy figures of 50.4mpg. CO2 emissions are 134g/km, putting the car in the 17% company car tax bracket for 2012/13. That represents an efficiency improvement of 19 percent, says Audi compared with the predecessor engine. Depending on pricing, this could be the hidden business car gem in the range for lower mileage company car drivers.

It’s not all engines, efficiency gains and lower company car tax of course. There’s a more refined look that adds additional confidence to that understated Audi appearance.

The front of the car has been more finely drawn, with changes to the bonnet line, light appearance and more fully integrated air intakes either side of the signature tapered grille. At the back, the rear light cluster has also been changed to more closely resemble the front headlamp styling. There’s also a newly designed rear bumper valance and twin tailpipe finishes.

Inside you’ll notice a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel, new high-gloss inlays, and simplified functionality of the MMI navigation plus system which now features four instead of eight buttons.

New features include Audi online traffic information which promises the latest news on congestion along the selected route in real time. Standard on all variants is the new driver information system with break recommendation. This detects and draws the driver’s attention to deviations from typical driving behaviour on the basis of steering motions and other parameters. Long-time drivers of Audis will remember the useful two hour driver break warning that always used to flash up from the driver information system.

Although the dimensions of the car have increased by a few millimetres, the A4 still has an 480-litre luggage capacity – 962 litres with the rear seats folded down. The A4 Avant and the A4 allroad quattro have 490 and 1,430 litres, respectively, while there’s also an optional electrically-operated tailgate for both models.

Audi says that UK specification and prices will be confirmed in the next few weeks, but are expected to be similar to the current A4 range. The revised Audi A4 range will be available from March.

More information on the A4 Go to our Facebook pages to see more pictures of the newly updated Audi A4.

Read a road test of the current A4 here: Audi A4 2.0 TDI SE road test.

Watch videos on our YouTube channel See the new features of the Audi A4 Saloon and A4 Avant: