Re: Making Audi a player

[Michael_Jacobs_at_Frontier-1@smtp.frontier.com]

     They are most definitely pressuring the good dealers to put together 
     dedicated showrooms.  My dealer is currently building his with extra 
     funds from AoA.  
     
     Mike
     A4TQ Manual on order


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Making Audi a player
Author:  smullen@philly.infi.net at Internet
Date:    1/15/97 9:40 AM


AoA is well aware of its many dealer network problems.  Given its spotty 
record, whether it has the will to act on these problems over the long 
haul is something else altogether.  I am aware, however, that AoA is 
trying to weed out less enthusiastic dealerships where possible, and is 
leaning on more enthusiastic, higher volume dealerships to build 
Audi-only showrooms.
     
At the risk of alienating all the horsepower heads on the list, AoA 
seems to be playing the high-horsepower game in the U.S. fairly 
shrewdly.  The A4QT is not the S8, but it fulfills a need and has gotten 
boffo reviews from the automotive press and owners alike.  The current 
high horsepower mania may not be exactly a passing fad, but the U.S. 
market for more powerful automobiles is indeed cyclical.  As other 
listers have noted, crash testing and other federalization requirements 
are simply too expense to justify importing a handful of the high HP 
machines Audi lovers are able to buy and enjoy virtually everywhere 
else.