Audi may not reach its sales goals for 2011 due to suppliers

I have a friend at Audi and he told me last week they had very few cars to sell. No A8's and few Q5's, he told me they were diverting cars to China bacause the profit margin was better than the USA. One client had been waiting weeks for a $100,000 A8 and was losing patience. So 2011 doesn not look like another year where Audi will increase sales v. BMW and Merc.

I think this would affect mostly the buyer wanting to drive off the lot immediately hoping the type of configuration is easily avialable at the dealer. However, if you want your car with specific options and configurations, you generally have to order it and wait. I waited almost 6 months for my A8L W12 in 2005 and am doing the same for the new one I ordered which should be here in either May or June. I have always had to order cars and wait because my dealer would never have the car available the way I want it build. This is very common in Germany. You order your car to your specifications and then you wait. In Germany you can pick it up at the factory as well.

This is no excuse. If Audi wants any kind of a sales foothold in the USA, please work better at rectifying the supplier issue. You will easily lose the momentum you worked to build in the past several years.