Is Audi listening...yeah right (Bucksnort comments)

[MHLIGGINS <MHLIGGINS@aol.com>]

<<A list with thousands of *active* audi enthusiasts, and Audi doesn't need
it.>>

     Actually, they don't.  We're not really their type.  Most of the folk on
the list are a) enthusiasts, or b) people who are looking for shortcuts to
maintain their costly vehicles.
     What they need are the same niche people that General Motors is trying to
lure to the SAAB line -- people who are willing to head into the showroom, buy
what they have, and continue to plunk down their money for service on a
regular basis (no questions allowed).  Then come back two years later and do
it again.  
     The folk on this list are not sheep, but that's what most auto companies
are needing to keep their sales going.  I rather suspect that most of us would
be considered rams or goats (you know, the animals with the HARD heads that
butt into things.)
     Take a look at the list.  How many of us buy our parts from Audi
dealerships?  A lot fewer than those that buy them elsewhere.  I recognize
that Carlsen and Osman's dealership (sorry, can't remember the name offhand)
are trying to change that, but that's because they want to do sonething to
help their dealership -- Audi ain't behind 'em, OK?  Audi is probably aghast
at the thought of their dealerships offering part at anything less than full
retail price.
     Audi is sales and service.  OK, let's say there are 2000 members of this
list and all of us buy a new car every year.  Audi MIGHT then pay a bit of
attention to us, because then we would represent about 2% of what they need to
do a year in volume.
     To the aftermarket and to individual dealerships we represent a
significant portion of the market.  (To ourselves, of course, we ARE the
market.  And we're right.)
     Having said all of the above, I still think Audi is making a marketing
mistake by not checking to see what happens here.  Having spent the last 15
years in marketing I found out that the niches are sometimes the wave of the
future.  Anyone ever heard of SUVs?  That started as a niche, and a small one
at that.
     So, technically, Ms. What's-er-name was correct.  Audi doesn't NEED this
list.  But they're making a serious mistake if they don't track it, because
one day they may very well wish they had.

     OK, I'll sit down now.

     Later.
     Marty Liggins
     Imperial Potentate, Bucksnort Quattro Club (Un-Inc.)