According to Audi, well, all that "ye olde worlde traditional luxury" stuff is great, but it's not the new hotness. Scott Keogh, marketing head for Audi of America, says that the key now is to combine the values of old European luxury -- high quality and traditional prestige -- with new, West Coast luxury values of "a more casual attitude, a sense of Zen and spirit and those types of things."
Audi aims to define that trend, though it doesn't say exactly how. Audi's upcoming Godfather-themed Super Bowl commercial is meant to exemplify the idea, as the movie is about a shift in power from the old to the new. Audi wants to assert itself, but it doesn't yet have the same perceived prestige of its German foes, a lot of which has to do with the fact that understatement is still the guiding principle in its car design. Audi makes some terrific cars, but it simply won't get big volume from the lifestyle crowd with handicaps like that. And as to how exactly Audi plans to incorporate "new-age" and "Zen and spirit" into its car design -- could yoga mats replace floor mats in the A5 Sportback?
[Source: Auto News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Avinash machado @ Jan 27th 2008 10:22AM
They need to define reliability first. Especially of the electricals.
nagmashot @ Jan 27th 2008 11:35AM
always jumps a i***t in quoting relibilty..
car with the lowest fault rate sold in the USA 2007.. Audi A8..
tarheelsxl @ Jan 27th 2008 11:56AM
Way to jump to conclusions about cars/brand you have little knowledge of - way to spout off old stereotypes that ARE NO LONGER TRUE. It's the follow-the-crowd, "I can't-afford-it-so-I'll-bash-it" attitude..
Granted, the OLDER Audi models are riddled with electronic gremlins but all the new generation models (B7 A4, A3, A6, A8) all have average to ABOVE-average reliability.
Sandeep @ Jan 27th 2008 8:12PM
Disagree, judging from the Edmunds long-term Q7 and the comments on there.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/category/cat.2007AudiQ74.2Premium
Kevin @ Jan 27th 2008 10:26AM
Does the concept of "new luxury" involve the car spending a majority of its existence either on a flatbed or on a lift?
I'll stick to Mercedes and BMW, thanks.
tarheelsxl @ Jan 27th 2008 12:00PM
Where have you been the last few years? Mercedes? Really?
They've started to shape up a little bit with the new C-class but so has Audi (across their entire model lineup). The B6 chassis models suffered from alot of problems but starting the newer models all fare pretty well.
Don't even get started with BMW and their well-documented transmission issues and oil pumps (for their new TT engines)
German cars should be bought for their engineering, handling and looks... don't buy them if reliability is your primary concern.
James @ Jan 27th 2008 12:07PM
funny, i thought reliability was a byproduct of engineering
Kevin @ Jan 27th 2008 12:50PM
Where have I been, tarheel? Working as a service manager for a german car repair shop that specializes in Mercedes, BMW, VW and Audi that sees 25-30 cars a week.
Mercedes reliability and quality is not what it once was. Not by any means. I can't argue that it is, only an idiot would make that argument. Heck, my family has an '07 S600 with less than 10k on it and the top part of the right rear door panel has a rattle in it. On a $150k car, that's absolutely appalling.
BUT. Mercedes is still VASTLY superior to Audi/VW, in my experience. And BMW (excluding the 7, which is spectacularly unreliable) is better than Mercedes, from everything I've seen.
None of them are as reliable as say a Lexus would be, but Audi is on a completely different level of unreliability from Mercedes and BMW, in my experience.
Eddie @ Jan 27th 2008 10:28AM
Ive had two Audi A6s, neither have had any problems. I have heard way worse horror stories about BMW than I have experienced with Audi.
asolar @ Jan 27th 2008 10:37AM
What does "West coast luxury" mean?
Apu @ Jan 30th 2008 1:56AM
Your under-warranty lease cars that you drove for only two years each don't count.
shalom @ Jan 27th 2008 10:46AM
Oh yeah because MBenz and BMW are so much more reliable. Pleaaaaze tell us another wonder big fish story. I have owned all the best of the best and Audi is up at the top and has even moved beyond BMW as far as luxury and quality is concerned.
Patrick Austin @ Jan 27th 2008 11:28AM
Audi lags way behind on reliability. BMW has been ranked up with Toyota and Lexus the past few years in terms of # of defects, although they go to the dealerships _a lot_ for non-problems (ie, I can't figure out my iDrive). Mercedes is doing better than they were a couple of years ago, as well.
That's not to say I don't love Audis and VWs (I've had 11 or 12 depending on how you count my 924), but VAG quality control has been problematic for, oh, I dunno...30 years? How do you say "Advancement Through Technology But Have Rhesus Monkeys Do The Assembly" in German?"
LeRobert @ Jan 27th 2008 9:48PM
@Patrick
'Vorsprung durch Technik, Herstellung von Rhesusaffen.'
=)
Mi key @ Jan 27th 2008 11:35AM
Audi has come out with some beautiful cars since the mid 90's to present. I think Cadillac might start being some real competition especially in their interiors.
Wedge @ Jan 27th 2008 12:17PM
As a previous Audi owner I feel it is on par with MB (I have had many and still do to compare) and BMW with reliability and might even be better, however, the real issue is service or lack there of. My recent A4 spent weeks in the shop for basic simple fixes, lack of parts and ill trained mechanics and the missing urge to address issues quickly by dealer or company stunned me. For those that have had good experiences with Audi consider yourself lucky as I would not wish what I went through to any car fan. 4 dealers later and months of back and forth with Audi USA has forced me to leave the brand behind. As Audi says, "never follow". Unfortunate as they do build a nice car, just can't support it.
J M C 3 @ Jan 27th 2008 12:30PM
You're right.Cadillac is really getting it's game together.It's (would you have believed,Cadillac !)attracting the younger New luxury crowd with it's restrained bling and beautiful interior on the CTS,specifically.
In the meantime,Mercedes is becoming the old Cadillac for the grandparents who golf crowd.
Audi must have spotted this trend.My hat's off to Caddy.They've become relevant.
Ted @ Jan 27th 2008 11:39AM
Old hotness: Wood, leather, dense plush carpet all in a well balanced vehicle with "built-like-a-tank" reliability.
New hotness: Wood, leather, dense plush carpet, in a front-heavy, unreliable, tarted-up VW.
No thanks. I'll stick to my Infiniti G35X.
-ted
J M C 3 @ Jan 27th 2008 12:46PM
It's a good thing your G35 has rear wheel drive then because otherwise it would be a tarted up Nissan.
Derek @ Jan 27th 2008 11:55AM
"a more casual attitude, a sense of Zen and spirit and those types of things."
Those types of things? Be a little more vague could you? Better take more notes at the focus group next time. This whole thing sounds like massive advertising spin.
How about just build a nice car and let people decide. I don't think when MB or Rolls decided to build a luxury car they had to go out and convince people it was luxury. They just built a luxury car and people knew.