Re: a few odds and ends... some electrons for thought

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

On Sun, 14 Apr 1996, Psycho Bob wrote:

>Since it seems like VAG
> is truely going to do whatever it said, the A8 seems to be the only model
> that is truely unique to and available only from Audi.

i don't think that the new golf & jetta IV will be based on the A4
platform; only the a6 and passat will share the same platform.  thus
there is no vw using the a4 platform.

> If
> this is done in the future, I think most new buyers will sway toward VW
> name of the car. Car rags will probably say "why bother with Audi when
> you can get [probably] cheaper price on the exact outfit under VW."

heh, that thinking has not stopped nissan selling repulsively ugly
maxima clones at big markups, nor has it stopped toyota selling their
f*** truck as a lexus.  hasn't stopped sales now, has it?  if audi can
repair their image and gain respectability, people will pay for the
name.  however, if they even dare consider building a f*** truck with
f*** truck levels of mechanical crudity i'm going into the montana
woods and build a shack w/o running water or electricity......

> Me thinks this is a bad decision by Audi with current market (although
> it seems to be improving -- but so are a lot of other mfrs), unless Audi
> has backup plan to pull out from U.S. market...

the a4 is the biggest hit in the US since the aero 5000 (C3? aaargh).
the dealer here only has fwd models and all the quattros are sold before
they even arrive.  this rate of sale has not receded since the car's
introduction.  it would not surprise me if this is also the case
nationally.  so it is inconceivable that they would even consider
pulling out now when they stuck around in the leanest of times.

as for the next a6, they could do dorky things like put in more gizmos
(heh, how about this new navigation system thingie?  or cellular fax?
or climate control that is sensitive to the sun angle? or fancy power
operated cupholders?) in it and possibly reserve the twin turbo and/or
atmospheric 30V V6 version for only the audi.  never underestimate the
ability of marketeers to sell products that are logically inferior.


eliot