"Volkswagen to Overhaul Audi Brand"

[DeWitt Harrison]

This is the title of a 05-16-02 WSJ article, page D8, outlining
a new strategy by Audi, a.k.a. Euro-Buick, to ditch the
stuffy, conservative cars they've been grinding out for the
last several years. It seems Audi customers finally noticed they
have been paying a premium for what amounts to a VW with
a nice option package. (It's not for nothing I've held onto the
ol' I5.)

The future looks brighter. The VW chairman, Herr Bernd
Pischetsriedder, "said that Audi was developing high-performance
models that would make the brand similar to 'the way BMW
used to be,' a thinly masked criticism of his former employer,
where he was chairman until 1999."

I have observed that VW's practice of building a variety of
brands on a small group of common platforms has been widely
cited in the industry press for the Audi's flat sales growth
in recent years. The public has noticed too. Audi sales have
actually been falling in Europe. Only the North American
market (enter the Buick lovers) has kept worldwide sales from
dropping.

Maybe the urq will be born again! - only this time with robust
electricals and 450 hp stock. :)

Cheers,

DeWitt Harrison
88 5kcstq