The Demographic Challenge: American Brands Join Lexus As German Automakers Skim Off The Affluent Buyer

OK, it's well known that Ford definitely mismanaged all the brands w/n their Premiere Auto Group. Ford was clearly unwilling to provide the appropriate funding for its luxury brands and relied heavily on large trucks & SUVs for operating profits. If they couldn't make a luxury car based on a Ford branded model, it seemed that they weren't too interested. And the fact that Ford wanted too much control over their foreign luxury brands hurt them as much. Ford control demoralized the obvious 1st-hand experience these brands had in the UK & Europe. When Ford's back was against the wall financially, it relied on some European-based designs to begin to rebuild its core brand --- which they should have been using since at least 2000.

It's easy to look back and see where the Ford execs failed the company in their mission to remain "American" and in their quest to have the "largest" SUV out there. But it's interesting to see that they had no confidence in any of the foreign luxury brands and basically gave them away. Though Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, & Volvo aren't burning up the sales charts; they all have a bit more respect after been freed from Ford control.

Link added, thx for catching that. Need to give credit where it is due.

surprised that the lexus buyers average age is only 56. everyone i see driving an LS or ES seems to be 75.

Don't tell badgewhore you're a cop... you'll lose his support as he will go on about some sort of racial oppression rant.

PlanoA4 I mean Agent009 is a joke! Oh and by the way give youself a pat on the back!

joke about what? The demographics and article are from industry sources. No smoke and mirrors here, just the cold hard facts.

Man people just cant take the truth.

Only certain ones...LOL!

Weakling900 - Glad you noticed both the Lexus and Demographic conclusions are different.

The I sided with Lexus in the CR fiasco after watching the video evidence and combining that with the fact that no other sources had even close to the same findings. While Lexus did make a "fix", it was most likely only window dressing to appease CR. (sometimes it is better to take the medicine than deny it). The real culprit is that the GX460 simply behaves like a typical SUV and if you expected handle like a car then you will be disappointed. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it still is a pig.

Now in the case of the buyer demographics, the data came to Bloomberg from JD Power. (not my favorite source) However since the automakers generally seem to agree with them on these basic demographic set, it is reasonable to take them as pretty accurate.

So am I guilty of looking at the data and making an educated statement? Yes sir, that is exactly what I did. You need to look at it on a case by case basis and come to your on conclusion.

BTW:

I am potentially eying a RS4 or RS6 as a replacement for the A4, it is a daily commuter and I have racked up over 200K on it, so it is close to retirement. I already have an offer on it, and it will live out its life as a track car.

The Mercedes is doing just fine with absolutely no issues, which is what I would expect considering is is still young.

Hmm

According to the Genius Posters on Autospies AUDI is not on the same Level as MB or BMW because their vehicles are "FWD Based".

Well I guess the High Earners who vote with their "Hard Earned Cash" Disagree.

Notice how for AUDI Customers the Average age is Joint Lowest and Median Income Highest ?
That is because the Younger Generation tend less to Follow the Status Quo and instead decide for themselves what they Like.

For my Dad's Generation " You Bought a Benz when you were Rich "

Not so true anymore.

Still fairly accurate though, considering Mercedes make cars that are far more expensive than Audi do (more than double infact).. although Lexus does trump them both with the LF-A. Facts that are largely erased by using a median average for the income.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL, Just like we've been saying all along! Audi has the wealthiest, youngest and the most educated buyers! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Chew on that all you haters!!!!!!!

Well the lease/finance rates for an Audi are comparatively higher than it's counterparts in its class since the residual value is quite low. If you want to afford an Audi, you have to pay more compared to a BMW or MB.

and based on this post, you meet only one of the three criteria. Can you guess which one, kiddo?

Patrick- The used car market has remained strong even through most of the economic mess.

However BMW did take a blood bath on lease returns on their SUV's. When gas went through the returning residual on the leases was creating a loss of thousands of dollars per unit. Combine that with a general slow down in sales and you are screwed.

Good point

Entry level Audi ownership is now about 20% cheaper than entry level BMW ownership...

I'm kind of surprised by some of the numbers. I would have thought the average age of a BMW owner would have been younger than 49 due to the fact that the largest number of sales are for the 3 series which–to me at least– is a "young" person's car.

I am not at all surprised that Audi and Benz owners earn more than BMW owners since I see so many gross, crude, and trashy people driving around in 3 series BMWs. I know this doesn't prove their income but there are a ton of idiots who make nothing but who will spend the majority of their income on a 3 series lease– just to say they have a BMW. BTW, I own an E90 M3 so don't hate.

I don't give a s**t about the rest of them :).

Because the 5-Series, X5, and 7-Series are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best sellers... and the median age on them is probably much older than the 3-Series.

Ooooh boy, the BMW FanBoiz are gonna hate this one! They have they more wicked cars, but the Audi buyers make more than them.

Yeah, because those BMW and Benz buyers are holding canned food drives, using food stamps, and paying for their cars with welfare checks compared to those Audi buyers.

That income difference would mean more if you were talking about one group making $25k and another making $40k. People making $170-185k are in the same tax bracket and can afford whatever they want. All of them are well off.

How many cars does AUDI sell annually in the US?

Sales is nothing other than sales, it has more to do with affordability and appeal to a general audience than a specific demographic. Arguably affordability casts a wider net that catches more wannabes than actually the true target.

When you get to the luxury makers many people wrong correlate sales with a better product. It can mean simply a product more people can afford.

A lot of you guys sit and talk shit about the agents for no reason. They're posting automotive news.Whats the problem?It was written by someone else,so why is he the joke? The headline tells what the article is about so if your going to whine don't read it. Most of you sit behind a desk for hours a day while these guys are out researching and driving cars which is what a real enthusiast does.Get a life and stop talking smack through a computer when 99% of you guys cant and wouldn't do a better job than the agents. Yes, some of the articles here I have no interest in,but I skip it or read it and pass. I don't waste my time writing how I hate the article and how the agent that posted it is a joke.The real jokes are the ones complaining like girls. One person will start about how he hates the site and agents and articles,yet he is posting comments. Than the rest will follow like the groupies they are.Grow up and get laid.If you want to say "what happened to autospies? This site use to be full of good info and now it sucks" than get the eff out of here,because it is YOU who is making the site bad.Motor Trend and sites like it have great forums,get the f^ck out if you don't like it,but I bet you'll stick around cuz YOU guys are the joke. This is not intended for everyone as there are people here that do post things related to the article.

+1 buddy.

You need help and get real! You think you are better! On what planet have you been on? This is Autospies, bashing is a way of life on this site just ask PlanoA4.

Even though Audi isn't high volume in the US, that's still impressive

Well at least I know I'm in the right car demographic. I can laugh at all the people who are younger than me or my age driving cars meant for those over 40 with over 100k payrolls. Goes to show that having a 1200 car payment does not make you a cool 30 year old.

It will be interesting to see Audi's numbers in 12 months time when the A1 has been on sale for a while.. that should bring ALL of Audi's numbers down - Mainly age, but inevitably income and eduction.

Also, according to the original article the median BMW owner income is:

Median Income: $1698,289 --- thats $1.6m, surely a typo!

Step One for Lincoln is to build a car that is as good as the competition (and competition at this level is FIERCE).

Step Two is to create a brand identity that promises more than simply paying more for a re-badged Ford.

I am quite sure the A8L is full of prestige. Also, Audi's residual values are higher than that of BMW and Mercedes Benz as previously listed in Automotive News in previous blogs. So, not sure where rom64 gets his information. Also rom64, Audi offers the smallest incentives relative to their competitors. Actually, Lexus has had the highest residual values followed by Audi then BMW and Mercedes-Benz. An R8 Sypder is about $180,000 and the new A8L W12 will be around $155,000 loaded. Not sure Mercedes-Benz is so much more expensive. These myths only play out in BMW fanboys like you.

Hmmm, the A8L has no more prestige than any of the other large executive saloons from the German manufacturers, and Mercedes Benz SL 65 AMG Black is about $300,000 isn't it? Audi owners are richer? these statistics only play out to Audi fanboys like you.

Ok, when are all you genious lease shoppers going to realize that there is more to compare than just residual values??????

What about the price of the car? What about the money factors? What about mileage charges before and after? What about loyalty and ocnquest incentives? What if you prefer to pay cash for a vehicle?

Which would you rather have, a lower residual value and extremely low money factor to go with it or a higher residual with a high interest rate? Oh and a higher price on the car to boot?

Which is a truer incentive from the manufacturer? Give the money away free now or promise some "pie in the sky" residual that the manufacturer will have to explain to it's s shareholders later when the losses start rolling in? Isn't that why GMAC had to ask the govenment for a bailout in the first place?