Audi sales figures by model?

[Mike Arman]

>From: Ti Kan <ti at amb.org>
>Subject: Re: Audi sales figures by model?
>To: human747 at attbi.com
>Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 12:22:05 -0700 (PDT)
>Cc: ti at amb.org (Ti Kan), quattro at audifans.com (Audi Mailing List),
>	gkarenko at yahoo.ca
>
>Huw Powell writes:
>> > > I was wondering if you know (or know where to find
>> > > out) how many Audi 5000 CS Quattro Turbos were sold in
>> > > the USA and/or Canada in 1987. I am looking at buying




Interesting graph, but the REAL question is this - how many are LEFT?


Somewhere I seem to recall a DOT statistic that about 10% of the "fleet"
gets junked, wrecked, or otherwise removed from service each year, so that
after ten years, basically, there are no more model 'X" cars around. In
addition, the majority of the mileage on any given car is usually
accumulated in the first three to five years of service, and after that,
the car becomes a "second" car or an "errands around town" car and
accumulates miles at a much lower rate annually than new cars.

The origin of the statistic involved pollution - they were trying to
determine the turnover rate for the US automobile "fleet" in general, and
they found that older cars (10 years or so) are NOT a major contributor to
the problem because A) most of them are gone, and B) the few survivors are
not usually driven much.

So much for the various laws that encourage scrappage of cars older than X
years on the grounds of air quality . . . the only REAL beneficiaries of
this law are the used car dealers, who get to supply replacement cars that
are not quite as old, and are thus still legal.

Some vehicles will last longer than the average of ten years, and some seem
to be biodegradable - Not a lot of Porsches in junkyards, no matter how old
- high perceived value keeps people fixing them - but lots and lots of
fairly new Geo Metros and Hyundais, though - these seem to be throw-away
cars. And LOTS of Fords . . . but the initial population is greater.

Lately, I've seen a LOT of type 44s in junkyards - no quattros, but lots of
2wd automatics and even 2wd turbos - most of them are NOT wrecked, they are
just tattered (some not very), and the reason they got junked was they
needed a rack, or a transmission or some other work that was prohibitively
expensive unless you do it yourself. Also, these older, lower value cars
are often bought by people who really have no idea what they cost to
maintain, and cannot afford it. (I know of a very nice running 2WD 4K that
was simply junked because the owner just wanted something else, and nobody
offered anything for a trade-in - so it was just discarded. Yes, I would
have grabbed it . . . and I saw FIVE running type 44s junked all at once
because the owner lost his storage.)

I think we are seeing the beginning of the extinction curve for these cars
- now is the time to stockpile parts from the you-pull-its, because I have
the distinct feeling that in another five years, there won't be any more .
. . except in Hemmings, for stupid money.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman