Audi, the luxury brand trying to double its sales, has lowered the sticker price of its redesigned A6 midsizesedan to grab more market The new A6, now in its first full month of sales, starts at $41,700, thecompanyon its website, down from $45,200 for the previous model.bmw 5-Series line, which outsells the A6 almost fivefold in the ., starts at $45,050, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans start at $49,400and outsell the Audi model almost 6-to-1.
Volkswagen aims to double luxury sales to 200,000 -- in league with BMW, Mercedes- by 2018 as part of its plan to become the world’s biggest automaker. While the compact A4 cars and Q5 sport- utility vehicle accounts for half of Audi’s
sales, boosting sales volume for the A6 will increase exposure of the brand to influential consumers beyond its full-size A8 and stretched A8L.
“People observe what these wealthy and discerning individuals drive,” Johan de Nysschen, head of Audi
It’s an important part of the brand development.”
While Audi sells fewer vehicles than the top luxury brands, it has narrowed the gap. Five years ago, Audi deliveries totaled 90,116 cars while the other three brands sold 247,973to 322,434.
BMW, poised to become the top-selling luxury auto brand in thethis year, and Mercedes “are vastly outperforming” Audi in themidsize segment,an auto-sales analyst
Audi sold 8,006 A6 sedans
last year, trailing the 38,700 5-Series and 46,900 E-Class sedans sold. Sales of the outgoing Audi model, last redesigned in 2005, have increased 0.9 percent through July, while deliveries of E-Class sedans rose 8.4 percent and 5-Series sales jumped 65 percent.
“If they want to get to their goal of being the No. 1 premium brand, if they want to get to the
goal of 200,000 unitsobviously they need to improve in that segment,
Audi accounts for a quartersales by Volkswagen, which aims to be the world’sbiggest and most-profitable automaker by 2018. Last year, VW ranked third, about 1.2 million deliveries behind Toyota and General Motors Co. Through the first half, it trailsabout 400,000 sales and leads Toyota by about the same amount.
The lower sticker price on the new base A6 means the automaker shouldn’t have to rely on subsidized lease offers to lower payments. Selling without big discounts will improve impressions of the brand and model over timeYou can’t keep being a quote-unquote deal product and expect to establish yourself in those upper price-range segments,”You need to reposition and slowly rebuild it.
Audi’s efforts to become more premium have raised the average transaction price of its brand by $5,000 over the past three years and taken new customers from competitors, de NysschenThe new car, which can come with features such as night- vision assisthot spot, is winning praise from critics. The A6 blends everything together into a symphony of driving fun,” wrote Scott Burgess oThis A6 will make many trips more interesting than the actual destinations.”
Audi’s integration of technology, including self-parkingmapping system programmed into the navigation screen, may help it attract luxury customers who often want the latest gadgetshead ofCalifornia-based that tracks auto sales.
Nobody needs to spend that kind of money on a vehicle
They’re doing so because they want to. A lot of it is a statement. From the technology standpoint, it’s the cool factor.”
Sales of the previous A6 were improving as the brand set
record last year,Weinberger, who owns an Audi dealership in Napervillewest ofThe new “A6 is going to continue to ride that wave and be able to expand that market,” he
The A6 along with the larger A7 and A8 sedanspart of an effort to woo more wealthy customers. By next year,wants those models to consistently account for 30 percent of deliveries, up from 18 percent last year. While Audi has reached that mix in some months when supply of A4 compact cars has been limited, he aims for more sales of all models. sales of the redesigned A8, introduced last year, rose to 3,300 through July from 473 ayear earlier. The new A7, which went on sale in April, has already sold 2,701 this year. The A6, of course, is an extremely important part of our strategy to raise the center of gravityof the brand moving forward
Audi has taken 850 dealer employeestraining and 1,000 more have attendedspecial sessionsOver the next 18 months, an additional 4,000 people will go through the program, which includes customer service and hospitality training.
It’s an area that I think is especially important as we seek to expand the number of thesehigh-end and discerning and obviously demanding customersThey arrive with a
different expectation set perhaps than what our dealers have been accustomed to in the past and we need to respond to this.”
It was a lackluster dealer experience that nudged Ryan Waid into a BMW 5-Series instead of an Audi.
“The service at the BMW store has been fantastic
That’s one of the reasons whyeven if I really consider Audi it would be hard for me to leave BMW.”
Volkswagen aims to double luxury sales to 200,000 -- in league with BMW, Mercedes- by 2018 as part of its plan to become the world’s biggest automaker. While the compact A4 cars and Q5 sport- utility vehicle accounts for half of Audi’s
sales, boosting sales volume for the A6 will increase exposure of the brand to influential consumers beyond its full-size A8 and stretched A8L.
“People observe what these wealthy and discerning individuals drive,” Johan de Nysschen, head of Audi
It’s an important part of the brand development.”
While Audi sells fewer vehicles than the top luxury brands, it has narrowed the gap. Five years ago, Audi deliveries totaled 90,116 cars while the other three brands sold 247,973to 322,434.
BMW, poised to become the top-selling luxury auto brand in thethis year, and Mercedes “are vastly outperforming” Audi in themidsize segment,an auto-sales analyst
Audi sold 8,006 A6 sedans
last year, trailing the 38,700 5-Series and 46,900 E-Class sedans sold. Sales of the outgoing Audi model, last redesigned in 2005, have increased 0.9 percent through July, while deliveries of E-Class sedans rose 8.4 percent and 5-Series sales jumped 65 percent.
“If they want to get to their goal of being the No. 1 premium brand, if they want to get to the
goal of 200,000 unitsobviously they need to improve in that segment,
Audi accounts for a quartersales by Volkswagen, which aims to be the world’sbiggest and most-profitable automaker by 2018. Last year, VW ranked third, about 1.2 million deliveries behind Toyota and General Motors Co. Through the first half, it trailsabout 400,000 sales and leads Toyota by about the same amount.
The lower sticker price on the new base A6 means the automaker shouldn’t have to rely on subsidized lease offers to lower payments. Selling without big discounts will improve impressions of the brand and model over timeYou can’t keep being a quote-unquote deal product and expect to establish yourself in those upper price-range segments,”You need to reposition and slowly rebuild it.
Audi’s efforts to become more premium have raised the average transaction price of its brand by $5,000 over the past three years and taken new customers from competitors, de NysschenThe new car, which can come with features such as night- vision assisthot spot, is winning praise from critics. The A6 blends everything together into a symphony of driving fun,” wrote Scott Burgess oThis A6 will make many trips more interesting than the actual destinations.”
Audi’s integration of technology, including self-parkingmapping system programmed into the navigation screen, may help it attract luxury customers who often want the latest gadgetshead ofCalifornia-based that tracks auto sales.
Nobody needs to spend that kind of money on a vehicle
They’re doing so because they want to. A lot of it is a statement. From the technology standpoint, it’s the cool factor.”
Sales of the previous A6 were improving as the brand set
record last year,Weinberger, who owns an Audi dealership in Napervillewest ofThe new “A6 is going to continue to ride that wave and be able to expand that market,” he
The A6 along with the larger A7 and A8 sedanspart of an effort to woo more wealthy customers. By next year,wants those models to consistently account for 30 percent of deliveries, up from 18 percent last year. While Audi has reached that mix in some months when supply of A4 compact cars has been limited, he aims for more sales of all models. sales of the redesigned A8, introduced last year, rose to 3,300 through July from 473 ayear earlier. The new A7, which went on sale in April, has already sold 2,701 this year. The A6, of course, is an extremely important part of our strategy to raise the center of gravityof the brand moving forward
Audi has taken 850 dealer employeestraining and 1,000 more have attendedspecial sessionsOver the next 18 months, an additional 4,000 people will go through the program, which includes customer service and hospitality training.
It’s an area that I think is especially important as we seek to expand the number of thesehigh-end and discerning and obviously demanding customersThey arrive with a
different expectation set perhaps than what our dealers have been accustomed to in the past and we need to respond to this.”
It was a lackluster dealer experience that nudged Ryan Waid into a BMW 5-Series instead of an Audi.
“The service at the BMW store has been fantastic
That’s one of the reasons whyeven if I really consider Audi it would be hard for me to leave BMW.”
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