Jason Teller

What responsibility do Audi enthusiasts have in evangelizing the Audi brand in the US?<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/news/08/evangelizing-the-audi-brand/">https://www.audiworld.com/news/08/evangelizing-the-audi-brand/</a</li></ul>

chewym

And currently Audi's brand image is quite low overall. As evidenced by its relatively low sales figures.

It's right at the top with the "enthusiasts" But enthusiasts make up a tiny percentage of sales.

Certainly product is important, but I think there is a lot of well selling "luxury" cars that aren't "luxury" imo (the interior of certain luxury cars for example)

The super bowl ad is a great first step. But a lot more is needed to more than double sales in a decade.

Randy M

If they could couple both brands, VW and Audi, and present them together to the public imo it would be a great long term strategy. They really should have both brands at the majority of the dealerships as well. They would have most of the price points covered in one dealership with wide variety of product for the consumer to choose from. If a VW owner felt like they were part of a larger family of product, they were truly pleased with their vehicle and their experience at the dealer (which could only get better if they were at an Audi dealer) then as they get older with more disposable income they would naturally choose an Audi. It would require some effort for the VW side before doing this however as the public perception of VW is that of a higher price point, recalls and an unreliable product compared to the alternative brands.

Right now in my market VW is sold with Buick, Volvo, Mazda and Mitsubishi. I personally feel that all of them are inferior brands. VW should be looked upon by the public as better than these brands, above and unassociated from them, as none of them have the feeling of a German car nor the engineering qualities. A dealership that has anything other than German cars diminishes the VW brand imo.

Imo Audi is missing an opportunity that most of their competitors don't even have the luxury of pursuing. VW can be better used as a catalyst to the Audi brand. If they could change the public perception of the VW brand, Audi could stop trying to disassociate themselves from VW, and start benefitting from their parent company. I've had three VW's and two Audi's. I get it. I feel the similarities. Their job should be to make the general populous feel it too.

Gettysburg

With the exception of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, what luxury car brand isn't an off-shoot or acquired property of a lesser "economy" car company?

Lexus = Toyota
Infiniti = Nissan
Acura = Honda
Lincoln/Mercury = Ford
Cadilac = Chevy/GM

Volvo (owned by Ford)
Saab (owned by GM)
Jaguar &amp; Land Rover(owned by Ford and soon to be owned by India's Tata Group)

With most of these brands, there isn't much incentive, to advertise the connection of the "luxury" brand to it's parent company.

LilRedWagon

I am not entirely convinced of their methodology, but according to Consumer Reports Brand Perception Survey, Audi scored second last, ahead of only Acura, and lower than Mitsubishi, Mercury and Buick

Basically, the survey suggests that Audi is not a brand that comes to mind as exemplifying anything in particular, at least in the US. It would be interesting to see what the results would be if the survey were done in Europe.<ul><li><a href="http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/brand-perceptions/overview/brand-perceptions-top-5.htm">Consumer Reports Brand Perception Survey</a></li></ul>

Randy M

In which my comment was pointed to.

Roque

The "consumer" doesn't make sense with Honda in 2nd and Acura in last.

munene

Hello,
Allow me to first start by writing that I am an Audi enthusiast,like all here and on the second Audi Avant.
However,in my humble opinion,I think that Mr.Jason Teller,founder and managing editor,has chosen to use the word 'Evangelize' out of context.
This word or term in it's use according to dictionary.com and other sources means 1)"to preach The Gospel to" 2)"to convert to Christianity."
I am a Christian and I know there are other's who believe in The Lord Jesus Christ and are also owners of Audi's and this is what we do,'evangelize...preach the Gospel of God' which is "The Great Commission" to tell other's about the love of Almighty God through Jesus Christ.
I personally think terms like "popularize,endear...etc" would suffice.
My humble point is that even though we are free and can use language in any manner that we would like and that this is a personal opinion,the use of the term 'evangelize' in this particular context makes a poor word choice.
Thank You!<ul><li><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evangelize">http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evangelize</a</li></ul>

munene

Hello,
I do realize that this term was used by Audi of America Chief Marketing Officer Scott Keogh said, "if Audi does its job right, and I think that we are well on our way, evangelizing the brand will not be a forced or hoped for issue, it will be a given. The thrill of our products will continue to put a smile on our customers face, our technological advances will amaze, our designs will captivate, our safety innovations will protect and our dealers will delight. By doing this, Audi will no longer be the best kept secret in the automotive business, it will be merely the best. That is our goal. Only enthusiastic customers can get us there."
Hence,my writing again and quoting the above because Mr.Teller,IMHO,had a choice like we all do.
Thanks again.

nirad

for most Americans to consider them. It doesn't make rational sense that people will pay more for a Mercedes with inferior reliability, but most people are pretty ignorant and buy based on reputation, not data. If Audi can stay very reliable for 5 years, then the perception may change. Right now, their perceived reliability is much lower than the actual reliability.