At Audi, Luxury Is Back With A Vengeance
How things change: Last year, the death of the automobile was prognosticated. Maybe little cheap econoboxes. Luxury cars? Forget it, dead as dinosaurs. Don’t even mention dinosaurs. This year … just have a look at Audi.
In 2010, Audi wants to sell more cars than ever before, and wants to make more money than ever before. Looking at the half year 2010 results, that’s no hubris. Volkswagen managers are usually very careful when it comes to short term targets. Hubris sets in when they plan 10 years forward. (As in Strategie 2018.)
In the first six months of 2010, Audi increased global sales revenues by 21 percent to €17.6b. Their operating profit jumped 61.6 percent to €1.3b, says Automobilwoche [sub].
By the end of the year, they want to break their own record and deliver more than 1,080,000 units. Compared to the 949,729 units of last year, that’s a conservative target. A mere 13.7 percent above last year. Come on. Easy. Most likely, they already know that they will make it: In the first half, they already were already up 19.1 percent.
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In nearly every griping post on this site about Audi's details lack. People never seem to say WHY they find Audi's unreliable. My 13 year old A6 Quattro Avant is doing quite well, thank you very much....153k with no worries. So, maybe I got a Wednesday built Audi? And style-wise, the design has held up quite well. I do share the quibble about the color pallette....my next intender is a TT...and none of the colors excite me....but if that's the only bitch, who cares?
And I disagree with the "Return of Conspicuous Consumption" headline....I think of the decision to buy an Audi as the opposite....under the radar, (for now), financial prudence...
I had an A4 Quattro for 11 years and 160 kmiles maintenance(excluding tires) was under $300 a year. Never broke down, sold it for a very good price in October 2008. Still see it occasionally driving around, paint still looks good. Our TT (bought used) has been pretty good too, although I did just replace the clutch and that was $$$.
@Mark MacInnis "I do share the quibble about the color pallette….my next intender is a TT…and none of the colors excite me….but if that’s the only bitch, who cares?" That's what Audi Exclusive is for.