audi police cars

[gelaundry4ever]

Good afternoon. I'm not sure if this belongs in the right thread, but here goes nothing.
If Audi manufactured police cars or any law enforcement vehicles, what would they look like? How would they compete with the domestics?

 

[iej]

They’re used here in Ireland for some police vehicles, as are BMWs for traffic patrols on motorways in particular.

It’s often a BMW 5 Series or a Volvo XC70 and it’s successors.
They use a version of the Audi Q7 or BMW X5 for some other duties.

Most of their fleet are rather more boring Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, Opel and so on.

No idea how they’d compete. We’ve a very much less armed environment here. Other than a very defined “armed response unit” uniformed police here don’t carry firearms, tasers, or even pepper spray or batons in normal circumstances.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Audi equivalent to ford interceptor

I'm sure they could call it the Audi crimefighter series using the a8 sedan with the aforementioned equipment as stated above, along with a suspect cage in the back of the car to take criminals to jail. It would also be perfect for high-speed chases and traffic stops. Let's not forget about bulletproof glass and pit bumpers to ram felons and thugs off the road.
What am I missing?

 

[gelaundry4ever]

audi police cruiser

Which Audi do you think would be ideal for apprehending suspects and other policework including chases?

 

[askolover]

VW had a few TDI (diesel) Passats made up as police cars here for a while.  The city of Belle Meade near Nashville had one.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

I would think the Audi A8 AWD would be pretty hard to run from lol

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Audi and others

could compete in the law enforcement segment if they wanted to. After all, how do we know that the big 3 could exit the emergency services segment? If the government had enough knowhow to work on and maintain these cars, it could happen. Never mind the politics. I could've gotten deeper in the dirty laundry segment.
The point I'm trying to make is that Audi could make the law enforcement segment competitive. Think about all the high-tech gadgets in the a8 that could compete with Crown Victoria, Charger, Caprice, etc. These screens could be used to pull up everything from speeding tickets given, to information on wanted suspects.
I did see a video of an a6 responding to a stabbing on youtube. They could do the same thing with the a8. I'd love to see them compete in the US.

 

[goatfarmer]

Years ago, there was a town in Ohio( Ghanna?) that used VW Rabbits as police units.

 

[foraloysius]

I've never been much of an Audi fan. Especially the older ones were very boring cars. A German car magazine was the same opinion, they called a 1979 Audi a "Beamtenkutsche" which means something like a carriage for government workers.

This is a Dutch police car, it's an Audi A6 C7 Avant 3.0 TDI quattro with 272 HP.

 

[yogitunes]

for the most part...

just like the Military selecting and using Speed Queen....a common rule by the Government, must be American Made.....

and State/Police vehicles are no different....

 

[gizmo]

Australian police cars were almost exclusively Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons, apart from a few special purpose vehicles. They liked the 6 cylinder engines and rear wheel drive.

When car manufacture ceased in Australia in about 2017 (?) it was a big question - what will the cops drive now? Lots of articles suggest the Kia Stinger would be a top contender.

Well they are all different State by State, but in my State the common choices have been lots of BMWs for highway pursuit cars; lots of VW Passat wagons  for general police cars; a smaller number of Toyota, Hyundai and other SUVs. Our local policeman drives a Holden Colorado I believe.

 

the article below might be of interest.

 

The term "divvy van" is old Aussie slang for a police van with a separate prisoner area at the rear. ("Divisional Van" - rear prisoner area is divided off from the front cabin. )

Ford Ranger to replace Holden Colorado on Victoria Police general duties fleet

Victoria Police are about to roll out the first of the Ford Rangers that are due to replace the current fleet of Holden Colorado utes.

www.caradvice.com.au

 

[kb0nes]

American Made

Of course that definition is hard to nail down. There is higher percentage of American labor in some Honda motorcycles than in "American Made" Harley's

But indeed I don't see Audi or any other foreign automaker getting any law enforcement vehicle contracts in the US

 

[iheartmaytag]

What Yogi said:

Maybe in some European countries you might see an Audi. Here in the US, or at least in my part of the world. You will never see an Audi, or any other import as a governmental usage vehicle.

One reason, is Audi has a terrible reputation for reliability and cost of repairs. Second Our purchasing contracts state that any product has to have at least 75% American produced and assembled content.

We had Chrysler K cars for a short time in the 80s as police cars. That was rather funny honestly. Then followed by a few years of the Ford Fox body LTDs with a v-6. The Ford Crown Vics dominated Police usage for years, now we are seeing either SUVs or Dodge Chargers as the police cruisers of choice.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

riot control

Who knows if bmw or audi or somebody else uses their full size vehicles for riot control or mass arrests? What about mercedes?

 

[yogitunes]

I forever wonder how a small space can hold so much air!...

 

[foraloysius]

Well, there are Mercedes products used in the USA as police cars...

 

[kenwashesmonday]

I remember back in the 1980s the New Jersey state police had Volvos patrolling the New Jersey Turnpike for a while. There was a public outcry, and the Volvos disappeared soon after.

 

[iheartmaytag]

foraloysius

Those are used as meter maids.
I also stated "in my part of the world". Mid-West, Buy American, and I work for the county. We are not allowed to purchase foreign sourced vehicles, or products for that matter if a USA built or sourced product is available.

Plus, the SMART cars are not imported any longer. Our meter maids use golf carts here.

 

[foraloysius]

Harley

I posted the picture as a response to Jerome's question "what about Mercedes?" with a little pun intended. I don't know what they are used for, but to me it sure looks like a police car.