an observation about european cars vs the rest...
Steve Sears
steve.sears at soil-mat.on.ca
Thu Sep 6 07:08:50 EDT 2001
Huw Powell wrote:
> I see no difference between those examples (and some of the other things
> people have sniped at) and VW/Audi. Large corp. (VW) owns some old
> trademarks (Audi & the other 3 rings) and revives one name and the logo
> to label a new line of cars. Huge numbers of shared parts, technology
> and platforms while marketed as distinct products.
I tend to agree with Ti, although VW and Audi share platforms for some cars,
I don't look at a Jetta as a rebadged A4. The acquisition of Auto Union by
VW in 1965 appears to be a result of a company's value plummeting due to a
bullheaded determination to stick with an outdated and losing concept (ie -
two-stroke car engines). The acquisition was basically the only way to slap
the Auto Union folks around and say "Drop that and catch up with the times".
Although part of the VAG, Audi is a distinct entity, and although sharing
dealership floor space with VW products, appears to march to it's own beat -
witness the Sport Quattro/Rally efforts, IMSA, ALMS, etc. In the 60's Auto
Union products often shared the dealership floor space with Mercedes
products - but with what they were offering the MB dealers considered the AU
cars to be the "Poor Cousin". Today, it appears the situation is reversed,
the parent company offerings are the lower end of the showroom offerings.
In 1965 the products of VW and Auto Union were pretty close to being direct
competitors - more than MB vs AU. The selection of Audi as the name for the
marque was the way to go as it harkened back to the sport/luxury cars of the
30's, not the smoky, catastrophic-engine-failure-prone two-stroke small cars
of the 60's. The development of the Audi 80 (? - my History of Progress is
at home) was ceased and transferred to VW as the Rabbit (North American
name) - it worked with the energy-crisis times, but did nothing to advance
the image and history of Audi.
The name game played by Japanese manufacturers harkens back to when Cadillac
used the word "redolent" to describe the interior of their car - the focus
groups said that this word sounded "luxurious", but it actually means
"fragrant; smelling (of); suggestive (of)" (- Websters). The names are
hollow, and have no history - the selection of the marque name is only a bit
more intensive than the model name - it must last longer/not go out of
style. It's like the names of the new drugs you see ads for on tv for
allergies, etc. - a bunch of letters put together which convey a mental
picture - X and Z are hard letters, F and W are soft.
Needless to say I suspect that VAG will not be reintroducing a DKW anytime
soon, nor Horch/Wanderer/NSU.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 5kTQ
1980 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes - 2 cars, 1 dead engine
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