The Name is James
James is a good friend of mine. He is always impeccably dressed, well-behaved and drives around in the best of cars. What I don’t understand is why would Mr Kumar, the super successful businessman, buy a fleet of top-of-the-line, extremely luxurious wheels and then hand the keys to James. And if that’s not enough, he pays my friend a fat cheque to drive them around. Well, you must have figured out by now that James is a chauffeur and Mr Kumar his employer and a seriously rich entrepreneur. The others may now stop scratching their stubs.
ENTER A6 2.7 TDI
The A6 already has a potent 3.0 TDI that has 232 of the meanest horses waiting to unleash havoc at the slightest spur. Then why in the name of the German Gott would the Ingolstadt company introduced a tamer 2.7 TDI in India? Most powerful luxury sedans are often owned by well-heeled businessmen like Mr Kumar, but, as luck would have, it’s my friend James and others of his ilk who get to play with the menagerie of horses and all the gadgets on the dash. Whereas the actual owner of the car is cocooned in the backseat, flipping through a financial daily or transferring millions from one bank account to another just for the thrill of it. So why not offer a plush saloon with the same level of comfort, remove the not-so-necessary equipment and price it smartly? And, viola, the birth of the entry-level A6 with the 2.7 TDI heart that fits the pocket, comparatively speaking.
JUDGING BY THE COVER
As I took delivery of the brand-new, spotless white A6 (just for a review, mind you), the company executive pointed out a mark the size of a grain of salt on the front right alloy wheel. It was then that it dawned upon me how precious the sedan was. Visually, the German saloon makes quite an impressive statement with its size, but the overall design is rather sober and stays true to the Audi school of solid design. Nothing to be written in BOLD, but I must mention the daytime running LED lamps further strengthen the impression. The smooth flowing lines with the really long bonnet and large wheels, topped with the four-ring Audi marque will announce that you have arrived, but will definitely not shout it out. Pleasing design, but nothing that’ll make the girls go ecstatic.
