VW/Audi vs. Subaru sales

[Robert Smith]

Well, everyone has an opinion. I currently own a '96 Subaru Outback
(thankfully, w/o the stupid fake air scoop) and a '97 A6. I prefer the build
quality, styling and handling of German cars. I don't like the noisy,
"doodad" Japanese approach to styling. But the Subarus are not bad cars, and
they are awesome in the snow. I have literally passed SUV's going up hills
in the snow.

As a point of clarification, I believe that Subarus only use the viscous
system for manual transmission models, which I would think are certainly in
the minority here in the US.


Bob Smith
rdsmith3 at worldnet.att.net


-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com]On
Behalf Of rplines at pacifier.com
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 11:24 AM
To: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: RE: VW/Audi vs. Subaru sales


FWIW, the 1999 U.S. sales are as follows:
Audi- 65,959 (53,761 quattros)
VW- 312,168 (no AWD models in '99 but 68,151 had electronic Traction
Control)
Subaru- 106,623 (all AWD)

Subaru has certainly had the most commercial success in the U.S. with AWD.
This
is most likely due to the lower cost of the viscous system they use in most
of the
cars.  As an engineer, there is no doubt in my mind that the Audi systems
are better
in terms of absolute performance (dare I say too good for most people?).  It
comes
down to a question of value.  Performance per dollar spent.  For most
people, the
viscous system, with it's minor drawbacks is good enough, certainly better
than no
AWD.  That said, I love my Audi quattro!
It will be interesting to see what the future holds as Subaru continues to
move up-market
with more luxury and higher prices, will they lose the bread and butter
customer?

-Peter Lines