<B>
Base - $33,908.00
Convenience (PCX) - $1,056.00
Cold weather (PAW) - $506.00
BOSE (PBS) - $572.00
CD CHANGER (7A2) - $484.00
NAVIGATION (PNL) - $968.00
PHONE (PMT) - $431.00
</B>
<I>Steve S.- did you like those video tapes?</I>

I posted that I saw them and enjoyed them in an earlier post...you must not have seen it.

Thanks again.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM
00 S4 (dec/jan?)

nt

I am fighting the urge too:) I told George P about the S4 available at Cutter Motors in SB(Jon S. posted about) to see if he will buy one first. Did you see his rally car at Monterey?

Jeff R.

And a faint outline of something powerful....very cool. Yeah, he told me you were surfing. Ru Brazil's car was next to George's car...

Steve S.
97 2.8QM

other then cry over $5000 difference...

The good news is that I have (1) Silver and (2) Blue available in my "vehicle supply pipeline"...

According to carpoint, the margin for the '99 A4 line runs from 12.33% for the 1.8T to 12.96% for the 2.8Q. What have been peoples experince in negotiating within this range?

On A4s....people have, in the past two years, been able to get anywhere from MSRP (Boulder CO) to 3.5% over invoice (various places). I still think that for an A4...that 5% over invoice is a win-win solution for all concerned.

For an S4, I think there is not much information available....I believe some people have been able to get $500...possibly $1,000 off MSRP (Bellvia Audi in NYC)...but most (90-%) are being sold at MSRP now. When you take into consideration the lower than expected base price...I think the demand will increase and thus keep the price up. There are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule so just use these as guidelines. It is all supply and demand.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM
00 S4 (dec/jan?)

today I got the 'ole good news/bad news. "Your car was built, but they included the NAV and CD changer, sorry...would you like to pass on this car and wait another month or so, for the next one the way you wanted?"

He was appropriately apologetic, but it sounds like a lot of cars are coming in with the NAV. Can I insist on them taking out the CD changer?

Well, seeing as how most of the pre sold cars didn't take much work to sell and won't sit on the lot at all I'd say a $4000+ profit isn't exactly paltry.

The S4 isn't the TT, there's no "art" involved here, it's essentially a conservative looking 4 door sedan with a lot of horsepower. Sorry, it 's an attractive car, but it's not a head turner.

Right now dealers are getting MSRP because the people who want them, really want them. I have several friends who paid MSRP for the VW Beetle when it first came out too.

Until this car has been out for awhile no one knows how sucessful it'll be (although I bet Audi can make some predictions based on pre-orders and European markets). Dealers insisting on MSRP are either betting the car is going to be very popular and/or betting that "early adopters" are willing to pay a premium to get one sooner rather than later.

Myself, I'd probably buy one in a heartbeat at $1000 under MSRP, but my local dealer doesn't currently think $3000 profit is enough. For his sake, I hope they sell out, because if the price drops I know who I'm not buying it from. Not that he's going to miss a meal regardless.

Why focus on the dealer margin? What about the AOA margin? The base profit VAG makes?

Supply and demand will always decide the price, if no one buys it at the current price, it will come down. If they sell all they can make at MSRP (or +), don't expect to pay less!

I wonder if the relative production volume of the A4 vs. the S4 would be a basis for targeting a negotiating range? I vaguely remember reading somewhere (on this board?) a figure of 1900-2000 S4s slated for export to the US for MY '00. Do you know the comparable figure for the A4s? Maybe Jon Schafer could you fill us in?


Bill


00' S4
Nogaro blue/silver leather
due end Sept?

We could extrapolate to 1999 numbers...and then 2000 numbers...I am going to venture a quess and say about 25,000 - 30,000 A4s will be sold. How I got that number was:

Est A4 cars sold per month per dealer: 12
Months in a year: 12
Est Number of Audi Dealers: 2000

Estimate of total A4 sold per year in the US: 28,800

I could be way off on this...but this might be a place to start.

Steve S.
97 2.8QM

Another figure that I seem to remember (from the CD article?) is that the S4 will account for about one in eight of audi's 4-series US sales. Using this figure or your estimate for volume adjust ment and assuming that negotiating from 12% to 5% margin is reasonable for an A4, would amount to only a few hundred $ under MSRP for the S4. Maybe this is a too simplistic.

On the other hand...any sales of the S4 could be looked at as gravey on top of the typical S4 volume. And if the car is coming in sold, its not going to be hanging on the dealers balance sheets, and will not require lot space or rep time to move. So, it seems that there's a good argument to be made for negotiating within a comparable window as the A4. Lets do it!!

When it arrives I think my brochure will be a collectors item, so I am going to keep hold of it however I will try to scan it and post on web etc.
Cheers

Guy