{"id":83315,"date":"2025-08-27T11:10:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T15:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=83315"},"modified":"2025-08-27T11:10:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T15:10:54","slug":"audi-a7-s7-cut-bmw-7-series-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=83315","title":{"rendered":"Audi A7 and S7 Axed: Why BMW 7 Series Stands to Win Big"},"content":{"rendered":"

The full-size sedan is on its way out, and the Audi A7 and S7 have become the latest casualty in the war against comfy five-seaters. The Ingolstadt-based automaker has reportedly dropped most of the A7 line from the lineup in the US. Instead, US shoppers will choose between a pared down lineup consisting of the A6 and red-hot RS 7. While this is potentially bad news for fans of the four-ring brand, this is likely very good news for BMW.<\/p>\n

Audi Shrinks Its Sedan Lineup<\/h3>\n

Audi\u2019s decision to shrink its lineup at the top end reflects repositioning the brand made down market. The Audi A4 folded into the Audi A5, rivaling the BMW 3 Series<\/a> as one. That was originally a move to better distinguish the brand\u2019s electric models (even-numbered cars will be electric). However, despite being announced in 2023, less than two years later, the brand backtracked on that initial plan and introduced a gas-powered A6. After 2025, Audi\u2019s top-end offerings shrink to just the RS 7 and the A6. With less than 3,000 A7 models sold in the last year and a half, it\u2019s not an altogether surprising move. By comparison 5,707 BMW 7 Series found new homes in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n

While Audi condenses the lineup in the name of simplification, that\u2019s certainly not the approach BMW has \u2014 apparently successfully \u2014 taken. The BMW 7 Series, now in the 2026 model year, is available in no less than 7 different guises. Ranging from exclusively gas-powered models like the 740i and 760i xDrive to fully electric i7 models and a hybrid BMW 750e xDrive<\/a>, you can order a BMW 7 Series in nearly any fashion you\u2019d like. Shoppers in the segment are used to getting what they want; so having a variety of powertrains just makes sense.<\/p>\n

Pricing Gap Leaves Room for BMW to Dominate the Luxury Sedan Market<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s another issue with Audi\u2019s strategy here \u2014 price. While the BMW 7 Series is costly, starting at around $100,000 before you add a single option, it covers a huge spread. Top-line models can scratch $200,000, with a model slotting in at nearly every $10,000 interval between the two points. The Audi A7 started at $72,000 and the S7 at $85,700, which made them excellent alternatives for shoppers at the lower end of the 7 Series scale. The rejiggered lineup sees the Audi RS 7 at $132,000 and the Audi A6 somewhere around $70,000 \u2014 much closer to a 5 Series fighter than the would-be king of the hill. There\u2019s always the A8 \u2014 Audi\u2019s true answer to the 7 Series \u2014 but that commands a price much closer to the 7 Series. The relative \u201cbargain\u201d of the A7\/S7 disappears.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we think Audi\u2019s move will bolster both A6 sales and BMW 7 Series sales. With one less competitor at the top of the ladder, BMW\u2019s 7er can continue to dominate the full-size luxury sedan segment. Meanwhile, A6 shoppers will enjoy its positioning closer to the \u201ctop\u201d of the Audi lineup, and the new A6 (which also ostensibly fights the BMW 5 Series) will be the only choice for loyalists that can\u2019t afford or don\u2019t want the high-performance RS 7. Or find the A8 a dubious value. Of course\u2026some of those shoppers will likely simply move over to BMW, too.<\/p>\n

Since Mercedes doesn\u2019t break down sales by model, we\u2019re unsure how the S Class fits into the equation. \u00a0But considering BMW leads US sales<\/a> among the Germans \u2014 already selling 36,000 more units than Merc in the first half of the year \u2014 we doubt BMW is very worried. It looks like the BMW 7 Series may be the once and future king of the full-size luxury car segment.<\/p>\n

Source: Automotive News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The full-size sedan is on its way out, and the Audi A7 and S7 have become the latest casualty in the war against comfy five-seaters. The Ingolstadt-based automaker has reportedly dropped most of the A7 line from the lineup in the US. Instead, US shoppers will choose between a pared down lineup consisting of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}