Tanner

From fourtitude.... everybody knows this but it was part of the interview.

<i>
4T: And the interior, the special interior, is that basically, you have got to take a given interior that's available for the market?

CB: Interiors are not so. You can't play with it so much. The reason why we don't have all the seat options as well as all the seating surface and leather options is because every seating surface has to be crash-tested and because the U.S. market has passenger airbag sensors. It is a totally different crash process than the rest of the world. So in the U.S., because of the complexities, it is not feasible for us to have all those different surfaces approved. So we have less room with the special interior colors.

4T: Look at the S4, which I think has been crash-tested for Napa leather. It's been crash tested for regular leather. It's been crash tested for Alcantara / leather mix. Obviously quattro offers, amongst those three, quite a few offerings in color. Is that even an option?

CB: No. Silk Napa you can do red and you can do the Jet Grey in the 25 Quattro. What they have in Europe that we don't have is Valcona leather.

I think we can improve on the leather seating surfaces strategy for the next generation cars, but I won't elaborate on that. Let's just say we are listening to the customer.

What I will say about the interiors on the S4 is that ever since we have opened up the one-tone leather Alcantara option for '07, in other words the silver with silver Alcantara or the black with black Alcantara, instead or just the two tone, our installation rates have gone up by about 20% on S4 because the one tone is a little bit easier. The two tone is sometimes a little too much for people.

Let's just say there are opportunities to improve the interior seating surface option color strategy. People are looking for a little bit of customization, more than we currently have today.</i>

I think two tone seats are hot.<ul><li><a href="http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_2930.shtml">Interview: Christian Bokich, A3, A4/S4/RS 4 Product Manager (Part 2)</a></li></ul>

Tanner

Fourtitude asks Christian about things like the S3 and whether it would make it over here as a three door.... his answer? "No comment".

One other comment grabbed my attention about the A3... "it doesn't have to do with the fact that we have a front wheel drive for the 2-liter only at the moment."

Still hope for an A3 2.0T quattro?<ul><li><a href="http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_2926.shtml">http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_2926.shtml</a</li></ul>