Who Needs To Be Looking At Audi In The Mirror As They Shift Into High Gear?

Your attitude is the exact same one of BMW and Mercedes before they got passed by Lexus in the '90s. Audi has surpassed the smaller players like Saab and Volvo globally a long time ago. We just don't see it in the U.S. but I think it will catch on. From a sales standpoint, Acura should be careful now that Audis are selling at a higher rate than Infinitis.

Volvo and Saab? Which of their products compete with the A8 and the R8. Where are their V8, V10, and V12 engines? Do they even sell any cars over $50k let alone over $100k?
Your comment only shows how little you know about Audi, so you should refrain from going any further with this.

MB E Class -> A6
MB C Class -> A4
BMW 6 -> A5, S5
BMW 5 -> A6
BMW 3 -> A4, S4
Lexus RX -> Q5 as the commercial says
911 -> R8

Audi should be releasing more new products than its rivals. The A8 is the oldest car in it's class, they need an A4 convertible replacement, and the A6 could use a new body as well. All their other products will be low-volume. The R8 V10, S/RS4, and A7 aren't going to be sold in volumes.

It is called the A5 Cabriolet and itarrives in October (no such thing as an A4 Cab any longer). sdcarguy, the A6 just beat the MB and BMW in the most recent Motor Trend issue. So I guess it's A6 > eclass and 5series.

Yes, you are right. I meant the symbol -> to be an arrow MB E Class "moves to" A6 along the lines of the article you mention and the buying patterns of the German market for the last 4 years.

To counter:

A new A8 is going to be released within the next year.

A4 convertible replacement is the A5/S5 convertible.

A6 just underwent a refresh and a new model should be in the pipeline, I guess, within 2 yr. Even though it is old in its class it is still killing the competition. Look for an AutoSpies review within a couple weeks.

Pseudo-valid point in regards to low-volume sales. The Q5 seems to be doing "oh-kay" in the NY tri-state. IDK about other regions.

It's been slow, but the image has definitely gotten better over the years. I think the A5 has had a lot to do with it. I'd say the MOST people still see it as less prestigious as BMW, MB and probably even Lexus, but "car people" know better. I wouldn't say the "real action" will be next year with the A7 and A8 - these will be low volume....maybe better than the current A8, certainly initially, but it will not catch MB and BMW. They will need to keep up the volume with the A4 and Q5.

While being competitive cars, terrible Audi residuals compared to BMW and MB will continue to impede Audi's progress in the space, as this class of cars are mostly leased. Best deal around is a used Audi.

"Terrible" residuals? Here's some information that shows otherwise. A couple of percentage points difference in residuals is hardly "terrible".

http://mediaroom.kbb.com/kelley-blue-book-releases-2009-residual-value-analysis

The answer is clearly BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes, with its stagnant global sales over the past decade and declining global sales last year and this year needs to be very careful since they are about to get passed by Audi in annual global sales and profitability.

BMW needes to watch out too. BMW is seeing at best 13% global monthly sales declines whereas Audi is seeing two consecutive months of global sales increases, soon to be three months.

Not to mention BMW's 90% profitability decline last year and loss through the first two quarters of this year.

Audi needs to restructure its pricing. All of its vehicles are overpriced. Take a look at any comparison test. You'll find that Audi is among the most expensive while offering the weakest performance. Audi Sucks!

At least Audi offers performance. Find me a Lexus that can do 0-60 in 3.8 seconds and reach 196 mph. Oh yeah, I forgot, the LF-A cannot be purchased by a customer anywhere in the world.

Heck we don't even have any official pricing information from Lexus.

Unfortunately, no mfr needs to look in their rearview mirror at Audi.

I say unfortunately, because I genuinely like Audi and feel that its lineup of vehicles is quite compelling. But it still lacks the status of BMW and Mercedes. And it will for some time. That, to me, is the only thing that stands between Audi and the others, status of the emblem.

Nothing in their sales data indicates any forward momentum. Sure their A4 sales are up over last August, but last August’s A4 sales were dismal. The A4 was selling 4-5000 when the economy was in full swing. Most of Audi’s sales increase last month were not attributable to the A4 or any of their cars, but to one new model, the Q5. There’s no new compelling, high volume model in the pipeline to duplicate this. Audi will continue to see year over year increases for the 12 months of the Q5’s model run. Then that’s it. Sales will flatten at their current 8-9000 level (uptick of course as the economy improves). Oh, and the Q7 is tanking as the Q5 eats into sales.

The upcoming models are very low volume sellers, A8, R8, S5 cab. These are going to do nothing to the sales numbers.

Until America gets over its love affair with the 3 pointed star and the propeller, Audi is going nowhere. And that’s unfortunate.

EVERYTHING in Audi's sales data indicates TOTAL FORWARD momentum??

Your name should be changed to thelie101, you moron.

How about this for Audi's forward momentum vs. its rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz:

Audi has a 4.1% GLOBAL sales increase for 2008 vs. a 5.8% and 5.1% global sales decline for BMW and MB respectively.

Audi posts a 30% increase in profit to $2 billion in 2008. BMW posts a 90% profit decline to $300 million for 2008. Mercedes-Benz posts a very small profit (if any at all)

Audi sales are currently down 8.8% GLOBALLY through the end of July, 2009. BMW's sales are currently down 19% GLOBALLY through the end of July 2009. Mercedes-Benz's sales are currently down 18% globally through the end of July 2009.

BMW should be posting a MUCH smaller global sales decline than Audi because BMW sells far more cars (or used to for that matter) than Audi. Therefore each fewer car sold for BMW is a significantly smaller percentage of BMW's total global sales than Audi's since Audi sells fewer cars than BMW..

Audi has posted two consecutive months (June & July) of global sales GROWTH (1.3% and 2.7% for June and July respectively).

BMW has NOT posted a single month of global sales growth. The best global monthly sales result BMW has posted is a 10% decline. Mercedes-Benz has also NOT had a month of global sales growth for 2009 with their best global monthly performance coming in at -5.8 or - 6%.

Audi is the clear market leader in China, the world's largest auto market by annual sales, and China is a rapidly GROWING market not a contracting one like the United States.

Even in the United States, Audi is only down 8.8% through the end of July, BMW is down something like 19% through the same period.

Audi will post a significant profit for 2009 as a whole. BMW is still at a 33 million Euro loss for 2009 through the end of Q2. MB (owned by Daimler AG) has seen a staggering $1 billion loss through Q2 2009.

So, thelie101, you tell me if status has impeded Audi's recent success versus its rivals in the past two years. I think I have compellingly proved the answer is NO.

Name calling, I can do that too. You sound like an IDIOT because the article is about Audi's US sales. Not about their global profits. Not about their world sales. Not about China.

Yuo're letting your Audi fanboy bias stand in the way of the facts. That's why I tell the truth, not lies. Because i look at facts, not fanboy distortions.

I like Audi, but their sales gains have come because of brand new models, which they have run out of. Deal with it. No amount of fanboyism is going to change that.

I look at the REAL facts. We all know no one measures a company's success based on its sales in one market, which is not even the largest auto market in the world anymore.

Of course, I use hard factual statistics to support my claims and you can only say that I am letting my Audi fanboy bias stand in the way of facts. Where are your facts thelie101?? That's right you don't have any....

Their sales gains have come because of brand new models? Yes, that is partly true.

Most importantly, though, Audi has not run out of new models. We have the huge volume Audi A1 (MINI competitor) coming out. Not to mention the Audi A6, which is a very old model, and it happens to outsell BMW's 5-series and Mercedes-Benz's E-class worldwide.

Again, you're going back to worldwide. This article is about US sales. The A6 is a fine car, IMHO much more desirable than its competitors, esp the overwrought 5er. BUt Americans are not at all convinced of that.

The facts are the sale charts over the last couple years.

A8, A6, A3, TT, are all niche players, very small numbers. A4 hovers around the 4-5000 mark. And their growth in the A4 this August compares to a platry 2136 sold last August.

Audi got a bump a couple years ago when they introduced the Q7. It's now tanking. Now they are achieving a bump from the Q5. That should stay consistent for the year.

The US may not even get the A1. But if we do, it'll be a niche player too. In case you didn't notice, MINI sales were down during C4C. The market for expensive small cars is still weak in the US. And Audi's own experience with A3 should give them pause about thjinking that will change.

But keep being a fanboy. I wish Audi had mroe fanboys in the US.

I speak about the company as a whole (globally) not just about the company in one specific market. That is hardly being a fanboy.