Re: AUDI & Mercedes

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

On Tue, 24 Oct 1995, Psychos 'R Us wrote:

> I would like to see Audi U.S. to give up on that abstract stuff (which is 
> hard on the brains) and stick to what Audi is good at -- motorsport 
> arena.

i think that the loudest message being sent to all the car makers that
consumers don't care about high tech is the fact that any image
conscious nimrod these days would pay $35K for a truck with generous
helpings of tree bark and dead cows.

nissan heard it loud and clear.  the did away with the sophisticated
rear end of the previous generation maxima.  bmw and mercedes
together with the other upscale brands are now building f*** trucks,
meant for paved roads of course.  a jaguar f*** truck based on
a ford explorer?  i can't imagine a rape more horrible than this.

i have high respect for subaru for doing the opposite:  making
a perfectly competent 1990's technology car resemble a 1940's
technology f*** truck.  

where does that leave audi?  i'm afraid that it's just turning out
great products that the average rich joe doesn't want to know or care
about.  enthusiasts alone will not make the US operation profitable.
personally i would prefer to see audi go down in flames than to see
them build a f*** truck with live axles, leaf springs, transfer cases
and part time manually engaging 4wd.

anybody want me off the list yet?  :)


eliot