This according to Autospies.com:

"Almost as fast as it came the Audi RS6 will disappear into the sunset.

The Spies have learned there will be no 2004 RS6's. The 2003 model will be the last of the breed in the current body style.

And belive it or not, there are still quite a few out there across the country still for sale in dealerships...So much for "If you build it, they will come".

We'll all have to wait until the next generation car appears sometime in 2006".
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Expensive venture for Audi to gear up for the RS6, make ~1000 units then shut down production.

 

I wonder if the new E55 had something to do with this?

 

I think Audi really shot themseves in the foot the way they brought this car out. It faired very well with the E55 in head to head reviews, and after optioning an E55 the price was pretty much the same. I never read production figures, but the RS6 quickly became known as a "rare" car. On their web site you could read about it, but couldn't option one out or figure payments. I called a dealer and was told I could not test drive one because of its limited nature. Meanwhile, MB highlights it on their web site, videos and everything, and no problem getting test drives. So the RS6 sits on lots across the country while E55's are being driven away more fequently. Fine for anyone owning an RS6 in years to come, but not for the bean counters at Audi.

 

This is old news as Audi only intended a one year production from the start.

 

One more thing...there are 16 RS6's for sale on the AutoTrader alone! Not so rare after all. Apparently, nobobdy wants these cars.

 

So do you think the RS6's resale value will steady itself after the initial depreciation?

 

There are 17 2003 E55's on Autotrader.com this date. Does your assumption mean the same for the E55 - "Apparently, nobody wants these cars."?

Audi built more RS6 for 2003 than MBZ built E55's (US Market).

There are probably dealers with 2003 E55's on their lots also.

 

Big difference...there were a lot more E55s produced in 2003 than RS6s and that combined with '04s being available would lend itself to more 2003 E55s being up for sale.

 

MBZ did not send 1000's E55's to the US. No way near that. They had trouble selling 500 W210 E55's each year and I doubt that they doubled production.

 

How many E55s were sent to the US for '03? Also, since no more RS6's are being built, you would think people would be less likely to let one go...it can't be replaced unlike an E55 that can be.

 

Who cares about the RS6? It was based on an aging platform and it was showing its age, really couldn't compete with the brand spanking new E55, but the next round could very well belong to the RS6.

 

I don't know the exact figures for the 2003 E55. However, most US AMG models are speculated to be no more than 700 each year.

MBUSA is barely going to make a sales increase of 1% for 2003 versus 2002. So, if they increased the E55 units by 1% over 2002's 550 units then they will only send/sell about 600 units.

 

According to info at the AMG Owners website, these were production numbers for 2000 and 2001, and 40% of all AMG's came to the USA:

2000:
E 55: 3.000
CLK 55: 1.500
ML 55: 4.500+
S / CL 55: 2.000

2001:
C 32: 3.800
E 55: 2.500
CLK 55: 2.000
SLK 32: 2.200
ML 55: 3.500
S / CL 55: 4.000


So in 2001, approximately 1000 E55's were shipped stateside.

(Who bought all those M55's?)

 

I speculate that the 40% is for the entire North American market, which includes Canada. Approximately 2000 W210 E55's were delivered to the U.S. from 1999-2002. Sales were only around 500 year. The final year of 2002, there wer 550 send per Motor Trend.

This is from Daimler-Chrysler:

"Stuttgart/Affalterbach, Feb 18, 2002
DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Mercedes-AMG GmbH posted record results in business year 2001. AMG sold over 18,500 vehicles last year, up more than 60 percent on the figure for 2000. Revenues meanwhile climbed by around 40 percent to nearly € 430 million. To handle the unprecedented rise in new orders, the company invested around € 27 million in real estate, buildings, production facilities and, above all, in the development of new products. As a result of this positive business development, Mercedes-AMG GmbH was able to create 60 new jobs, thereby increasing its workforce to around 540 employees.

AMG’s main markets are the U.S., Canada and Germany. All in all, the company sold about 3,800 C-Class vehicles (C 32), over 2,500 E-Class passenger cars (E 55), more than 2,000 CLK 55s, around 2,200 SLK 32s, more than 3,500 M-Class vehicles (ML 55) and nearly 4,000 S-Class vehicles and CL coupes (S/CL 55) last year."

 

I didn't realize it was just a one year run. I would think it would retain value well then over time. I wish I could have driven one just to see what it was like.