Re: Audi Product Idea: A5 Minvan

[Psycho Bob <honge@creighton.edu>]

>> 	The A5 would be the only seriously upmarket minivan out there. NO
>> ONE else in the luxury segment builds one. Audi is definitely upmarket
>> from the ...

>It would be a nice idea, but would it be profitable?  If Audi came out
>with this tomorrow and it accounted for 20% of their sales, wouldn't
>that be about 3000 units?  US sales alone won't make it fly.

>Would it sell in their home market, where they have a much larger
>market share?  A minivan's terrible aerodynamics would be bad for both
>top speed and fuel economy.

First, what would a minivan accomplish for Audi? MB tried the SUV with the
G-wagon previously, it didn't work. BMW tried the ix and it wasn't a
sales success. By dipping into the market the marque ain't known for, and
you're talking about lame sales. For image-making, loss-leader sort of
thing (Audi already got one -- it's called A8), what does the minivan
further the Audi image?? (Frankly, I don't think I'd like Audi to have ANY
sort of image in the minivan market....) And there's the Avants to think
about -- the precise reason that Audi is still backing off the idea of
SUVs and such. And by going for the minivan proportions, you're not going
to get any serious performance out of it.

Now, what of psuedo-minivan? A vehicle with dimensions that goes between
the minivan and Avant? I'm thinking of the old Lexus/Toyota show car here.
The thing would definitely not have the dimensions (nor carrying capacity)
of the minivan -- which the smaller result size means performance-oriented
stuff can be added (and the vehicle would behave like one). But it's also
tad bit bigger than the Avant so some more stuff can be carried.

It shouldn't be marketed as SUV nor a minivan -- I s'ppose you can call it
Super Avant! (Wow! Sounds so... American!) I think that's in line with
Audi's motto -- you got performance and practicality.

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