fca

For the longest time we have all been wondering, what is up with the people at Audi Marketing? They are missing out on a great opportunity in the US market.

I have always said, get people into the cars and they will be sold. For people to buy Audi, they first have to test-drive them, and for people to drive them, they have to know that they exist.... With the absence of any form of advertising, how are people supposed to even venture into an Audi dealership?

Now it looks like they finally figured out how to sell a product, maybe they finally went and took a course in Marketing 101...<ul><li><a href="http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/UPDATE/701160427">http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/UPDATE/701160427</a</li></ul>

pierreb

maybe we can work on servicing our MMI systems properly next!

Fxhomie

if Audi really wants to be Tier 1, lose the joint VW dealerships!!

blue bayou

I prefer the subtlety, elegance and stealthy performance like the northern Europeans do. Hopefully moronic marketing MBA drones don't destroy the brand in quest of world domination.

fca

That's all good and dandy if people were following.
Have you seen the sales figures for the A6 over the past few months?

We don't need `flashy', but a little 'bold' is not so bad.

Any amount of advertising is better than the nonexistent one that they have been working on over the past few years.

(Never Follow was actually a great slogan.)

80sailor

was forcefed from corporate in germany and translated by the former agency.

Bottom line is that while AoA is trying to make some noise, Germany doesn't understand the US market like they should.

The result is work that falls somewhere in the middle and fails to get noticed.

For the brands sake, I hope they get their act together and do it right.

John J Szobocsan

The U.S., for Audi Ag, is more of an afterthought than a serious market. Audi sales, worldwide, are strong and growing in high growth potential markets around the world. Why concentrate on growing market share in a mature market with enormous pricing pressures coupled with F/X risk?

I don't need to assuage my ego that my car brand is at the top of the heap. In fact, part of the mystic of Audi is that so few people understand the marque. The European marques gained a foothold in the U.S. during the 1960's and 1970's because a) they were exclusive and b) offered performance and quality not found in the American products. Let the Asians and the Americans fight for the mass markets. I'm indifferent if more BMWs and Mercs are sold in the U.S. than Audis.

fca

Most people that are not familiar with the Audi brand have a negitive image of the cars.
Perception is reality. And a bad one is hard to overcome.

When I told people I was considering an A6, many would say, "why?, it is unreliable, second class to BMW, Benz, and even Lexus, why would I wan't to do that..."

The US market is very different in terms of image. BMW has the sporty market, Mercedes has the luxury market, Lexus the reliability/value market.
Audi has.....?

Sure, once I purchased the A6 and they rode in it and drove it, they began to understand the 'why'? People just need to know what an Audi is all about, and a little PR won't hurt its image, only help.

I would say the US market is just beginning, far from mature. Doubling or even tripling sales in the US market (matching the sales of the other German imports) should be something, and not be taken lightly. It's only been a decade since the A4 began to elevate the image of the Audi brand in the US, after its downfall in the early 90's. And with the revamping of the whole Audi line, there is a huge potential in the US market that Audi shouldn't squander like before.

It may not be important to an Audi owner how many other 'like-cars' are out there on the highways and byways, but it should sure matter to the company that sells them and looks at the bottom line.

John J Szobocsan

and the result was a prominent story about sudden acceleration on "Sixty Minutes." In every case, the driver was at fault and not the car.

More recently, VW dramatically increased sales in the U.S. with the introduction of the Beetle and last generation Passat. Again, stories surfaced surrounding reliability issues. The more likely cause was an overextended dealer network that could not properly service the increase in VW sales. Yes, it is a management issue but, sales growth is not always positive.

If Audi is able to expand in new markets, and existing markets with higher margins than in the U.S., the optimal solution of Audi AG is to exploit the more profitable markets. Audi has reduced Q7 importation into the U.S. to free production for higher profit margin regions of the world where the Q7 sales has exceeded expectations.

I drive whatever I want and, as an educated individual, not swayed by the opinions of those less knowledgeable about automobiles. I favor Audi, based on my understanding of engineering, not on the reputation of a status item.

Once, during the midst of the 1990's recession in Japan, an executive for LVMH Louis Vuitton was asked how the economic slow down would affect sales. His response was,and I paraphrase slightly, "This is a positive as Louis Vuitton is a producer of luxury goods, not status items. A luxury good is something that make you feel good while a status item is designed to show others you have wealth."

fca

There is no argument here about how great of a car Audi is... I bought one.

However, in terms of marketing, one cannot disregard one of the most unrealized markets out there, no matter how well one does at home. De Nysschen as well as others at Audi are finally realizing that.

In terms of product image, I agree, we don't need to cheapen the Audi brand by making it as ubiquitous as a Toyota. But, increasing public knowledge is not a bad thing. It has nothing to do with being a status symbol. It's about being known for what one 'is', not a mis-perception.

And if demand for these cars are higher, maybe they could be justified in charging the higher prices the other two importers do, and not worry so much about their margins.