Re: when is an audi not an audi?

["Sean Ford" <sean@nwh.org>]

Dave,
   I disagree with your statement that VW is not up to the task to take on
Mercedes. In my opinion, most car companies can take on Mercedes if they
are willing to spend the R&D money in the right place and then command a
premium price for their product. However, the public will already have a
perception, as you've demonstrated, about the marque and they're unable to
simply say, "ya, VW has the expertise in auto manufacturing, they can do
this."  I would say the real hurdle will be changing public perception, not
building a suitable competitor. I often wonder why other car companies do
not take a more direct approach in competing with Mercedes? BMW has tried,
with their own spin, and I would say they are competing fairly well. Toyota
has tried, with the Lexus brand, also with their own Japanese spin and they
are competing fairly well. Audi, it seems, will always follow their own
path and appeal to those that are willing to look a little deeper and
investigate the product (except maybe in the case of the A4, which is just
a damn good looking car, thus some less informed consumers are buying a
superior product in spite of themselves).

  It is less of a stretch to envision Audi taking on BMW, hell, they're
doing that now to some degree. What I don't understand is why try to push
VW, a purveyor of affordable transportation, into a league where they've
never played before? It seems a like an awful big leapfrog jump and I'm
afraid it may blow up in their face. In fact, I wonder if (given that these
rumors are true) this action may hurt Audi? Will the public see VW as a
Mercedes competitor, or an Audi competitor? If the experiment doesn't work,
and VW loses a ton of money, will the parent company simply rob the Audi
coffers? Scary thought.

Sean Ford
sean@nwh.org                       '92 Audi 100CS 5spd 21K mi
Newton-Wellesley Hospital      '89 Suzuki Katana 600 14K mi
Newton, MA  02162 (USA)      http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/5528

----------
> From: Dave Eaton <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>
> To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject: when is an audi not an audi?
> Date: Tuesday, June 03, 1997 5:20 PM
> 
> when it's a vw of course....
> not sure vw is up to this to be honest....
> 
> -dave