ajayme

After reading numerous articles on where VW is going, i.e. twin turbo in Passat, W12 in a stretched Passat body, etc. What do you all think will happen to Audi with all this. April-Verdegrl-any insight?

Allen in Dallas
1999 1/2 A6Q A8

muhammadc

Audi has worked pretty hard to erase the bad image they had from (ya know)... and build a reputable one of a classy sport luxury car maker (in our market, anyway). Let me put it this way, since VW is still being sold to a young audience, and being pushed as a somewhat inexpensive car... try to sell a $70,000 VW luxury sedan to someone who can have Mercedes, BMW, or now Audi for the same money? I'll tell you it will be a while before I touch VW... and their reputation, cars, and approach to the market will have to be completely overhauled for me to go from Audi to VW. I guess they'll push this $70k W12 D2 cocept as a player with a 2-year warranty?? My lawn mower has a longer warranty than that!!! You're going to brag about your new $70K VW to your exec buddies? It will really be a while if you ask me and things would really have to change!<p>-----
<b>Muhammad
<a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=2830">100CS</a> & <a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=5188">A6Q</a></b>

Michael Kwok

I knwo the VW D1 willhave its will buyers...perhaps not so much in the US as in Asia. Remember this is where due to taxes, Volvos, Saabs and Audi's compete head to head in the SAME price bracket as MB and BMW. MANY people buy Volvos and Saabs to look like they own a less expensive car (yet they are not one cent less expensive). Culturally, it is good to be very understated....Yet there is still the behind the back recognition of having spent great amounts of dosh. This I believe is where VW, with their techno powerhouse, will garner the greated appreciating. A $150K (remember taxes) no face is a very desireable thing indeed.

With respect to the US,..it could work. Why drive an MB, BMW and Audi when everyone in the company has one.....VW is not intent on selling a lot...It could find enough dot com gurus with $50K VW Beetles and $60K Acura Integras who want another car that no one else has....could happen.

VW is intent on moving on MB and is leaving BMW to Audi. This move is a bit bolder than that of a say 6 years ago when VW wanted to move up market but perhaps not that high. It is interesting that MB is interested in moving downmarket (with strategies such as smart, the purchase of chrysler and now the partial purchase of Mitsu.....lots of lower end products now for it to cover the full spectrum.....remember the upcoming Maybach..)

Only time will tell if it is successful.
Mie

mbh

I have to admit that VW's marketing strategy escapes me. They seem to be intent on setting up some sort of internal competition between Audi and VW. Even the similarity between the top of the line Passat (with AWD) and the A6 has not escaped auto pundits. At least in the U.S., it's going to take brand management wizadry to convince folks to shell out 70K for a VW instead of a BMW, Mercedes, etc.

I keep hoping that I am missing something here that will eventually become obvious.

Mitch

FinnishVWowna

My dad ordered a new VW Passat TDI (115 hp/310 Nm) 4motion in april and as we pondered about the color I noticed that the strategy at Volkswagen group goes like this: VW has colors that are almost right, but only almost. At almost every color we felt: this is pretty cool, but it could be a bit lighter or a bit more blue or so.. Then as we looked at the Audi color map, it had much better colors.

Audi costs "a little" more than VW, but it has better color selections, a bit better quality (for example in plastics) and more chrome (practically none in Passat). So if you want a car that fulfills your every need in style and quality, and you're ready to pay some more for it, you probably will end up buying an Audi. That's the way they thought it at VW group.

And what comes to strategies, I'm sure they will continue this policy in future, too. If they make VW worth an Audi, either VW or Audi must die - and I don't think VW group wants that to happen.
(Leading European car magazine auto, motor und sport though wrote that, after the facelift in fall, Passat will have more chrome, so let's see what happens...)

Comments please.<p>Site: http://rmk.hamk.fi/~konttmi1

Longwolf (Christian)

There is NO WAY they will find any sales success with upmarket cars, Americans will never be convinced that VW is a "luxury" brand, no matter how cute your commercials are. And, the VW products do not have the same refinement as the Audis. My wife and I looked at a new Jetta turbo for her last week....and for $21K, no way, the interior and refinement was not quite upto Audi standards. So, the wife and I are going to look at a used A4 rather than a new VW.

And lastly.....WHO WOULD BUY A $45,000+ CAR WITH A LAME *** 2 YEAR/24k MILE WARRANTY!!!!!!!!!!!!<p>Christian J. Long
President - Quattro Club of Florida
Orlando, FL
-----------------------------------
'00 A4 1.8tqsm
'87 944S
'90 Audi 90cs
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Past Audis:
84 CGT, 85 CGT, 87.5 CGT
90 CQ, 98.5 A4 1.8tsm

RHH

I think Michael is getting to the heart of the matter....

For work reasons I am living near Hamburg Germany for about a year now, driving a VW Sharan minivan - do miss my supercharged 98.5 PES A4 qms though, and VW's branding policy is cleary evident on this side of the Atlantic. Remember they have Skoda (Czeck base), Seat (Spanish base), Audi and VW plus their micro niche brands. They have FOUR major brands to differentiate over here, each one offering their own version of the basic VW and Audi platforms. Each one competing at a different price point and marketing to a different target audience. Exxample: Seat just hired the designer responsible for the stunning Alfa's we do not get to enjoy in N.A., specifically the 156, 166 and soon to be released 147. VW will turn Seat, whose history is nothing special (basically nothing more than a assembler of Fiat derived models)into a focused Mediterrean flavoured sport brand at a fair price (thanks to its Spanish manufacturing base and use of many common components - platform, tranmission, engine, braking system, etc.). Skoda is the economy version, where you are surprised by what you receive, more standard features but cheaper paint, interior plastics etc. Roomy for their size and conservatively styled. Softer suspensions and a decent warranty.

Then you still have Audi! And VW!

Look at the Golf platform...VW Golf, Jetta (Bora), Beetle, Audi A3, Skoda Felicia, Seat Toledo, Audi TT and maybe another one or two I am not aware of.

Sound familiar? How about GM in the mid to late 1970's to mid 1980's!

Only difference is the VW Passat Plus or W12 will not be a Cadillac Cimarron!

Piech knows one thing very well: positioning and brand differentiation. He will likely move Audi horizontal to a more sport flavour (hello Lemans effort and hello BMW). Good news for us S model fans. Indeed VW will move upmarket but it will be done with careful price positioning and differentiation in service.

A dangerous game yes, but VW's recent strategic moves in Europe and North America have been hailed as brilliant and are going to be copied around the world.

Look at Ford...they had to buy their way in...Volvo, Jaguar and now Land Rover. The tens of billions that have been spent by Ford will go a long way for VW to differentiate with design, price points, quality and dealer networks. And gold old Wolfgang Rietzle ex BMW man has his work cut out differnentiating Lincoln, Jaguar and Volvo, let alone finding economies of scale in platform sharing.

As an Audi fan I hope to see Audi uniqueness maintained. As long as they continue to offer value versus the other luxury brands, and their safety character, pleasant surprises (the little things!) and add a degree of sport (HP!)I will remain an Audi loyalist.

Sorry for the long post.

phred

Couldn't you use the same logic to keep Toyota from selling Land Cruisers for $40K and Avalons for $35K? Just because you have a certain image doesn't mean it can never change.

Just look at our friends Audi. Remember the Fox? The 80 and 90? These were not classy, well-designed cars, whereas the A4/A6/A8 are world-class cars that cost many dollars.

I recently rented a VW Polo on a trip to France. This car is the class smaller than the Golf, and I'll be damned if the interior fit and finish weren't as good as my A4, and almost my A6! Plus I could see that many parts were the same. Even though brand management is very important, nothing is set in stone and things can change. Cadillac is trying to create a performance attitude (Le Mans, Northstar) and people aren't laughing them off the stage, so who's to say whether VW can pull it off? I still think the original question is the right one - if VW moves upscale, which is where Audi is supposed to be, what happens to Audi?

phred

but look how much trouble they're having convincing us that their many models are different. Really, why have Buick if you have Cadillac? And if Pontiac is supposed to be performance, then why have Olds aiming in that direction too? I worry that when VW models start to duplicate and/or overlap Audi cars, something's gotta give. I've read in the Euro car mags that people are already starting to figure out that you can get a Golf with a Seat badge and price so why pay more. Too many models in one company only confuse buyers AND product planners.

LCP

Audi moving to a more sport flavor...I guess that explains all of the lame midlife crisis ads...