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Audi

Yesterday at my Audi Dealership I was reading a British article (Car
magazine?) comparing the A4Q 2.8 with the new BMW 328i and the Alfa
Romeo 156.  The "winner" was the Audi, though with only the slightest
of margin.  
One observation - there seemed to be much less emphasis on "track
performance" than "real world handling".  One of the big ups for the
Audi was the amazing grip of the car - Certainly a different
conclusion than the Car & Driver article I remember from recently.

What I found more interesting, though, was the fact that Audi was
actually more expensive than the Bimmer.  That is also the case in
Denmark (my native country).  I believe the same thing holds in most
of Europe.

In other words:  BMW's sell at a premium here in the US, and/or Audi's
at a discount (maybe both).  I believe there is a $4k difference here?

Anyway - last year I was going though Switzerland on the way home from
a great vacation in Greece.  There, it seemed, ALL luxury cars were
Audi's.  For every Bimmer I saw maybe 10 Audis.  Lots of A8s, never
saw a BMW 7-series.  Of couse this may be attributable to the snow in
Switzerland, but certainly that can't be any worse than here in
Chicago or other parts of the Mid-West.

Bottom line:  Amazing what perception and image can do to sales and
prices on cars.  In a silly sort of way it made me feel smug about
owning an Audi...

(PS: Not meant to be a BMW bashing.  I would love to add a BMW to my
list of cars...)


Henrik

'95 Audi S6
'96 Audi A6Q




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