In a direct sign of the times, price cuts among car makers have become an increasing trend. With the entire auto industry grasping at straws just to sell their vehicles, most have relied on slashing off prices from their cars as a way to getting some sales. Case in point: Audi recently released the price for the 2010 S4 and as has been widely expected, the car’s price tag has been significantly cut.

The car, which was sold at a base price of $57,000, has now been slashed to $45,900 for the 2010 model. According to the guys at Audi, the move was prompted as a repositioning strategy to make the S4 “more attainable witout compromises in performance or features.” Our translation: “We need to sell cars, so we’re offering them at a lower price.”

The consequences of the S4’s slashed prices results in a downgrade, albeit not a big one, in the car’s engine: from a 4.2-liter V-8 to a supercharged V6. Despite that, the S4 still boasts of premium features that makes the reduced $45,900 price tag seem like a good bargain.

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Considering that it has been repositioned to a ‘more affordable’ market, the car still comes with a number of premium features including an updated third-generation MMI surface, a SIRIUS navigation system, and a multitude of voice-based features.

If there’s one challenge for the S4 now that it has re-positioned itself, it’s the fact that it’s now going up against a number of worthy competitors, not the least of which is the immensely successful BMW 335i.

For its part, Audi doesn’t seem the least bit daunted about entering the S4 into a different market. After all, the car’s performance, thanks in large part to specs of 333 horsepower, 325 pound/ft of torque and a 0-60 mph time of 4.9 seconds, still makes as worthy and as formidable as all the other cars in its new segment. And that’s not even counting the S4’s new supercharger, which gives the car an added efficiency boost that comes as a big improvement over its predecessor, the 2008 V8 engine S4.