Audi A3... why dont they import to US? (wasRe: Wheel size of a 2001 TTq?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 10:57 AM -0500 3/26/03, JordanVw at aol.com wrote:

>  > They will fit the Audis A2 and A3, but that is of course no issue here.
>  >
>>
>speaking of which, why did audi never import the A3 to the us?

Crash testing- it wouldn't pass US standards, or so the rumors go.
Which is hilarious.  Every POS GM cranks out not only passes, but
usually does half-decent(which means "only a 50/50 chance of getting
killed should you take on something larger than a gopher.")  The fact
that an Audi didn't pass US crash testing is downright scary- the
thing has got to be a death trap, or it flunked on some
technicality...probably 5mph bumpers or something(which is also
funny, but in a different way- you should see some of the damage to
all sorts of models that ARE imported into the US, from 5mph testing.)

That said, they could have -made- it pass, but I bet the logic was
"who wants a micro luxury car anyway?  So why are we spending money
to import this thing?  Neeeeexttt..."  Let's face it, they were
right; we'er the Super Size It country, and if two cars cost the same
and one has an inch more headroom/legroom, well, that settles that.
Audi was probably also studying the history of other "micro luxury"
cars, like the 318i, which had pretty dismal sales; you don't see
'em, and there's a reason for that(bad sales.  Unlike the 750i, which
nobody can figure out how to drive.)  The Baby Beemer Bounced Back to
Bavaria where it Belonged.

I saw the interior shots from that A3 for-sale ad, and 'spartan' came
to mind; the VW Golf's much nicer looking.  I do suspect, however,
that the company that imported it went for the absolute base model to
keep costs low.

Mercedes sorta has it figured out- the small sedan was popular among
the young+too-rich and the little old ladies; much more high-brow
than, eww, an Audi.  So, it wasn't a terrible stretch for them to
bring out the little Coupe, heavily market it as an sort of
Escape-from-life Pod With Leather and Wood (remember the commercial
of the guy driving out of the city randomly?)  Hell, it even had a
6-speed, and that was marketing genius, I think- lent to the "make
the owner feel sporty/young" image.

As J.C. Collins, the VP of marketing for Ford, pointed out...people
buy SUVs(and cars) to fit an idealized version of themselves.  SUV
owners are the perfect example- they like to think it makes them
outdoorsy/rugged.

He had a great quote, too- "the only time those SUVs are going to be
off-road is when they miss the driveway at 3 AM."

Tale Rachlin, of the BMWCCA Roundel mag, wrote a -great- article in
this month's issue; borrow it from a friend(if you dare admit to
having a friend who drives a BMW) and look for "A truck is a truck is
a truck".

Brett
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