the state of audi (was Audi A4 Power

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Sat, 21 Oct 1995, Psychos 'R Us wrote:

> Personally, I think the 2.8 SOHC V6 really has to go. It's power output 
> is so abysmal to move so much of (Audi) car that it's embarrasing Audis 
> to a lot of competitors out there. Audi really needs to get A8 and some 
> other exotics (RS2, etc.) to make it clear that Audi is at the same level 
> as BMW and MB, not Honda (Acura) or Toyota (Lexus) -- or VW.

there are several significant events in the company's recent past that
is probably resposible for some of the current somewhat lacklustre
offerings in the US.

- the move of herr piech from audi to vw.  i don't see his successor
driving the company with the same zeal.

- far less visible participation in motorsports... in the golden decade
(for audi), they were kicking ass in such a major way on the motorsports
arena that audi was a highly coveted brand for all enthusiasts.  very
little remains today besides happy memories.

- the A8. according to CAR, this is the biggest luxury car advance in
30 years.  (let's see if Crap and Drivel (tm) will dismiss it because
its cupholders cannot hold jumbo)

they must have put just about all their resources into it, to the
detriment of the other models..  the A8 is strategically important.
it has to be the car to break through into the highest class, to be
considered a worthy alternative to the benz or bmw buyer, using
whatever subjective criteria he or she chooses.  if the A8 succeeds,
all the lesser models can command higher prices, since the brand would
be seen as more desirable.  the A8 is a money losing flagship, a bold
marketing move.  the smaller models have to be money makers.. if the
brand name is elevated together with its prices, you won't hear too
many screaming about "poor value for money".  how many people do
you hear screaming about how expensive a benz or a porsche is?

that comments may not go down well with many of you, but the reality is
that losing money is not something that a company can do forever. 

- the US operation is still operated by fools. i still cannot
understand why they decide to bring in the S6 wagon right before it
is to become outlawed when they could have brought it in at the same
time as the 92 S4.  they probably lost a lot of turbo wagon sales
to ovlov.  those people with 200TQ wagons had nothing to move to
if they wanted something with approximately the same performance.

the S4/S6 is now getting long in the tooth.. they never did fix the broken
trip computer that contains the important boost gauge, the strut
suspension is now obsolete compared to the A4 & A8's new fancy jobs, plus
the facelift made it look frumpier.  the older model had a black strip
that broke up the bulk of the front bumpers.  the car has become less
desirable because it stood still.  the successor will have the nice new
bits, but will lose the very powerful and characterful turbo 5, with no
clear worthy successor announced.  i don't expect the 30V V6 to produce
the same kind of performance as the 20V turbo... so you have the older car
with a great engine and less refined suspension and the newer car with
less performance but better suspension....  makes buying one more painful,
doesn't it? 

i am not impressed by the latest a4 marketing blitz.  what's it saying
that makes me want an a4 over a 325i or an acura TasteLess?  they
certainly didn't bribe Crap & Drivel (tm) enough from the looks of the
latest lukewarm writeup.

i really hope that the hot a4 will be engineered to pass US regulations.
if it doesn't i will have to reluctantly conclude that audi does not
care about its US market.


eliot