HorschA4

Does anyone have any insights as to why the inventory of 2012 A4s is so thin? In my area (Washington DC)the dealers seem to have mostly white or black cars, and the customer has no choice but to take options he doesn't want. Is Audi having production problems?

scottschapiro

World-wide demand for German luxury makes is very high right now and the US market is not as profitable for Audi as other markets, hence the shortage.

FWIW, VW's German made products are in equally short supply in the US.

markcincinnati

Our Cincinnati dealers seem to want you to custom order your car -- now this is something they have always OFFERED, but now they seem to push it somewhat.

My understanding is that people (elsewhere, not here) are used to going to a dealer who has virtually no inventory, other than showroom cars, and ordering exactly what they want.

I was in Switzerland or Germany a couple of years ago and I went into an Audi dealership. All the cars on the showroom floor were silver with a kind of camel colored leather interior and the cars were strippies. The salesman gave me some brochures and told me that they don't stock any cars, they just take orders.

I wanted the color combo I saw -- and of course it was not available in the US.

Oh yeah, another thing, it seemed to me that there were more option choices and fewer (if any) "packages" like we're used to in the US.

Maybe Audi is trying to "train" its North American customers to NOT buy off the lot and order a car exactly as they want it.

Or maybe our market is symbolically important but since our demand is lower than other parts of the world, we go to the end of the queue.

dk1

That's always has been the case as far as I can tell. The cars that you find on the lot are black or white, typically base with a couple of popular but cheap options.

You should have no problem ordering the car that you want - there are no production issues as far as I know.

vtheman

1- If anything NA market is the biggest in the world hence why our price are the lowest in the world.
2- Face lift is coming next year, it is typical for a manufacturer to scale back to clear the inventory.
3- Audi does not send whatever they want to the dealer, in fact its the other way around, dealers order /packages/options/color according to what sells the most in the area.
4- Americans are used to packages (value) and cars ready to go now where as Europeans are used to ordering their cars with options they really want/need.

av_audi

Whatever the reason, if you do any inventory search for manual cars in LA, you just get depressed: 90% are black cars with black interior. A few whites with black interior. Then the odd gray and a super rare leftover 2011 beige. I can't stand it. The A4 demographics must be much younger in LA than say the Bay Area.

When you look at Premiums, a good number of them have enough options that I'd rather get a P+ instead with at least some options that I care for (trip computer & foldable seat).

The picture is not so gloomy if you consider autos, though. There are enough other colors and there seems to be 300-400 cars available. The problem must be particular to your area. It may also be just temporary. Also, there seems to be an endless supply of BMWs and MBs, so I am not so sure about the German product shortage argument.

SCJ

In europe, especially Germany with the production plant so close, they order a car and go pick it up. Very popular option and it enables you to get what you want.

The US has always been a place where you buy one off the lot. US car makers do not seem to encourage ordering it from the factory. I have ordered 2 Fords from the factory.

My Audi dealer did not stock anything but popular colors and black interiors, with very few options until lately. I still had to order my latest from Audi. Very little inventory and what I wanted was not available in the US.

av_audi

Why is black so prevalent? Is it really the color of choice for most people or is it really just the least objectionable color to them?

gunsmoker

I suppose there is a lot of people that equate luxury with formal and therefore black. I don't mind black limos, MB S-class, BMW 7-series, and A8. IMHO, I think people who go with the black for lower-end cars only get themselves into trouble with rock chips, swirl marks, and dusty interiors, without conveying any additional sense of wealth or formal appearance. I'm sure there are people that like the color for itself, but that doesn't strike me as a major reason why black is so popular with the luxury cars.

All the nonsense aside, I came across some factual results pointing out that in the last couple of years white and black have been on the rise and have outsold the silver, although there are still more silver cars on the road from the previous color craziness. I'm sure the dealers stay informed of such statistics and there may be such an inflection point below which the consumer drives the color decision, but once the dealerships get wind of the trend, they fuel it by stocking mostly such vehicles until other colors become a rarity and hence more attractive.

av_audi

I understand your point about black _exteriors_. But I was replying to someone's post on black _interiors_. Do you feel your arguments apply to black interiors as well? I don't know what the consensu is, but to me, black interiors seem more sporty, whereas color interiors (gray/beige/brown) seem to emphasize more luxury, or at least cozziness.