Audi

Automotive engineering is where Audi has always made sense, especially for people who want premium cars with a clean interior, solid road manners, and a strong technology pitch. By our assessment, its big strength is the combination of restrained design, quattro all-wheel drive on many models, and the general feeling of careful build quality. The price of that polish is that Audi can feel more conservative than BMW and less showy than Mercedes-Benz, so the brand trades drama for neatness. In practice it is a line of sedans, SUVs and performance models that tend to feel precise, quiet and expensive in the ordinary way luxury cars should. Audi sits near the top of the premium German pack, with a reputation for technical competence rather than flamboyance. It suits buyers who want refinement and understatement, not anyone chasing the loudest badge on the street. Germany is its home country.