Jason Teller

Many people read yesterday that Audi of America seeks to slowly raise prices (it currently sells about 4% below rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz for similarly equipped models). Audi seeks to raise its brand image here and believes it will be able to raise prices as a result.<ul><li><a href="http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/10/11/024794.html">http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/10/11/024794.html</a</li></ul>

JimR

Lamest excuse for a price increase ever.

Oh, and will we ever have international character support? That's supposed to be an accented "e" on the end of "cache".

tboned

Just last week I had someone ask me "Isn't Audi just an expensive VW?"

And with dealers with both brands sitting on the same lot, this won't get better. Audi needs to COMPLETELY divorce itself from marketing/presence with VW. In my opinion.

Although I agree Audi is a better car for less money than BMW or Merc.

Reggie

They are a long way from that right now:

1. No overseas delivery
2. No bumper to bumper warranty anymore
3. Most dealerships do not have loaners for service work.
4. The cars bear too much resemblance to VW cars.
5. Their reliability (per consumers magazine) is no where near as good as BMW.

If you do not take care of the fundamentals then they will not succeed.

But then marketing can change things - hence Corona beer is a great example of a product that is made for pennies, need a lime to help the taste and yet gets premium prices - Is that what Audi is trying to do?

Reggie

resale value reflects the public perception of the mfr worth. If the cars hold their values - then raising the price of the new models will be justified.

Raising prices alone will drive consumers to the other brands.

S4iowa

Agree on this 110%.

April

as proof that there must be something wrong with the brand. Even if that means losing long time customers who have come back again and again because of the bang for buck. Even if that means a dip in sales volume; they need to seek a shift in demographic. However, that demographic will expect great service - and that is something that can be spotty with Audi dealers in North America.

Reggie

due to poor service and poor reliability. This is not due to original buyers but the general public who purchase the used models. The general public buy BMWs used because they perceive them to be a great value used.

April

of BMW or Mercedes forums shows lots of dealer horror stories, and many owners who are vastly less technically savvy than Audi owners (many of whom an engineers or other tech geeks;-).

Audi needs to move away from selling to the tech types because they are almost invariably bargain hunters who squash the last penny out of a deal and then seek to critisize and re-engineer the car. That means the dealership can't afford to attract the best and brightest staff, which means the customers get exactly the kind of service they are paying for;-) Chicken and egg. Any time somebody shops the internet to get a marginally better deal on an Audi when they have experienced great service by a dealer, they are voting that price matters more than service. So people do it to themselves pure and simple.

I see a shift away from selling to techies with the newest Audi models, and I think for the brand, it's probably the best thing they could do. By moving away from being a bargain hunter's darling (like Saab and Volvo), Audi may lose some customers short term, but I think they have a chance of building a new client base that has different priorities. What needs to keep improving are the dealers. Service quality varies a lot. I think by getting rid of the built-in servicing, the service depts will have to work harder to earn customer dollars and compete with the best independents in their area, which is going to give incentive to improve.