Reason for that is Audi in their infinite wisdom put the timing chains and glides on the back of the engine where the transmission is mounted to, only way to access the timing chains is to remove the engine, a real PITA and thousands in labor costs. Not to mention there’s achy breaky plastic everywhere under the hood as well.
Some people speak highly of German engineering, may have been true once upon a time, but modern German engineering has a lot to be desired. Even the VW Golf/Rabbit back in the 80’s had notoriously bad issues with rust, probably even rusted out here in California and Arizona since they leaked and water pulled up on the floor boards and would rust them out completely, despite everything being undercoated underneath.
One thing is for certain, the Ford 300 inline 6 will outlive everything in existence.
