Audi To Spend $27.46 Billion In Bid To Catch BMW

This is what platform, parts and research and development sharing with other Volkswagen Auto Group brands will do for Audi. This huge spending campaign by Audi is driven by the excess profit it is able to achieve due to its larger profit margin than both BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Eventually economics will catch up to BMW's independent business model as it is surpassed by Audi in global annual sales of premium luxury cars.

BMW is simply unable to achieve the profit margins Audi enjoys because as an independent company it is unable to share platforms, parts and research and development ideas with other brands. BMW must do everything alone making it much more expensive than distributing costs across a large automotive group.

Thus making BMW the example for all others to follow. Great argument for BMW as couldn't have said it better myself.

With skewed up priorities on profits and margins and synergies Audi will not be able to catch up to BMW. BMW is not ahead because of money, it is ahead because of their principles and philosophy.

Good luck to Audi and Lexus! It is fun to watch them try :)

BMW is the example of what not to follow. Independence can keep a company nimble and responsive for only so long until it is surpassed by others who are more profitable due to cost savings.

Slam BMW all you want, but they're the most admired car company in the world. They're consistently profitable, even in recessions and other economic downturns. Even after massive loses like their Rover debacle, they were able to return to profitability in short order. BMW enjoys a fiercely loyal following that kept buying BMWs, even during the Bangle Era of polarized (and arguably ugly) Flame Surface styling. They make the cars that are the benchmarks for others (do you hear GM saying they're working on an A4 Killer, or Chrysler aspiring to compete against Lexus?) They are the car company that others are trying to beat.

FWIW, I'm not a BMW fan. At least nothing they currently make. I have two BMWs that are over a decade old, which I love, but I can't see myself buying another due to their current styling and gadget-centric approach. That's not to say they're not great cars. They're just not *MY* cup of tea.

@TheSteve: Many years ago I owned a couple of 3 series/5ers. My last BMW was bought in 2002. I think they are a fabulous performance machines. However, the problem I have with BMW now is along the same issues you just stated.

I personally hate some of the small things they've done to their cars over the past several years. The run flat tires are TERRIBLE. They ride very rough; the tread life is almost half and they cost about 1/3 more than standard high performance tires. Their interiors use to be so sculpted and had a beautiful cockpit surrounding. I challenge folks to go to a BMW dealership and really scan the cockpit for OVER usage of plastics. Way too much for a car costing this.

That's why I decided to try Audi. Do they have the better engines; probably not quite the performance of a BMW. However, their 3.0 Supercharged engine made Wards top 10 once again.

I love their interiors, high quality craftsmanship that Audi is doing inside. I don't have to fuss with those dang run flats tires, an always up NAV screen and the Quattro is second to none. They have a nice a nice looking product. I don't like cars too over the top. If you got a good thing, tweak it, continue to improve it. Some companies feel every new gizmo and MORE button are necessary; they're just going too extreme trying to be so different in their designs.

Audi makes beautiful cars, no question. But this is not a zero sum game between Audi, BMW, and MB. Sales increases may be from VW owners moving "up" to Audi. BMW and MB are building more cars for the "middle" market and may get previous Acura and Infiniti owners. The market will decide but the Big 3 Germans are all doing well.

Audi just got a previous 4-time Acura owner...me, I drove the 535i several times, and tried to force myself to like it, I drove the A6 with the prestige package once...and now I own one. The Audi drove better, and was better designed inside and out IMO.

Recent bmws have gone down in quality... Either that or other luxury car makers have caught up. Audi cars are generally elegantly designed both inside and out. Besides the looks, they are also pretty fun to drive. Even Mercedes and Lexus are starting to improve on the handling and becoming more driver oriented. Competition is good for consumers!

Why is it when somebody on this website opts for an Audi after test driving BOTH an A6 and 5er, they get a negative response. Plenty of magazines have found out why the A6 was overall better too. The 5er is a tank now and BMW is trying to pander to Cadillac owners too. I sold my old 5er a couple of years ago and bought an Audi. I WANTED to buy the BMW, but too many dang things I just couldn't overlook. Audi interior's are superior. And the 3.0 Supercharger engine is once again ranked in Wards top 10. Put the 5er on a diet please.

To be frank I'm getting sick of this whole pissing contest, BMW is making front drive, Audi talking about tarting up a VW up. Why not just build the best damn car you can and let sales follow. Right now I think Mecedes is the only one with there head in the game.

Gkearns, great point. It wasn't my intent to speak negatively about BMW, but in my case, their car simply didn't live up to all the hype that I've heard and read about (especially on this site). I owned a '91 BMW 325i, I loved that car, but the 2013 535s that I drove didn't remind me of my beloved 325i...but the 3.0T in the A6 was impressive, along with the other attributes I mentioned earlier.

maybe audi could start by subsidizing their leases like bmw !! bmw it seems always has decent deals across their lineup. you actually see 335xi's 535-550i, 750, 650's on the road...
audis leases suck so bad you almost always see their 2.0's !!
bmw better bang for the buck AND free maintanence !
just a small example - the bmw M3 Lease about 850 per month for a 75k car, audi rs5 1200 for a 75k car..
at $1200 you can get a 105k 6 series gran coupe..

@BobM: You summarized it very well. Remember back in the 70s, early 80's many people owned a reliable, gas saving Toyota. Then Honda came along and INITIALLY people were skeptic about their quality and reliability. Now the Honda, especially Accord sells like hotcakes.

I love my Audi A6er. Audi builds an impressive product. I also test drove the 5 series and I tried to convince myself it was still as good as it once was . I hate to burst the BMW fan boys' bubble (since I owned a few BMW too). They're not the same product they use to be. When Bangle took over those awful designs years, that's when it became the turning point for me.

I've said it previous, BMW stick to what you do best, building great performance engines and QUIT trying to pander to Cadillac, Lexus or even Volvo owners. If people don't like the firmer ride, let them walk. But they have all these closely lettered SUVs: X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6. Now the old 3 series, is now the new 4 series. Sounds like those old Coke commercials that Pepsi ran against them when they changed their formula. Come On!!

BMW is losing its design and product focus, which will soon cause it to lose sales.

The i3 looks like a clown car and already has BMW worried about quality concerns even though it came out yesterday. Meanwhile Audi is significantly growing its TDI clean diesel initiative.

The 5-series and 7-series, two bread and butter models that BMW relied on for a large amount of its annual global sales, don't provide nearly the level of engagement and excellent driving dynamics they once did. Audi's A6 has won a ton of comparison tests.

BMW is creating ugly vehicles that are filling every single made-up niche it can think of. The 5-series GT comes to mind and so does the 3-series GT. Unfortunately, these models don't sell well because buyers have so many different models to choose from and end up getting something more useful and better looking.

This model proliferation of tons of new models has hurt BMW's profitability as witnessed by it's poor 3Q 2013 profit numbers and lower guidance for Q4 2013 and 2014.

Lexus will beat all of them, and has more money.....

The HUGE advantage Audi has over BMW and Mercedes is the massive insulation of VW that and the enviable stable of Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Lamborghini. The platform synergies abound. Mercedes sooner or later will implode. Each time they have sought mainstream partners, it's gone bad. When they came for Chrysler, they thought they could gobble up Hyundai as well. Hyundai ran and Chrysler got raped and then left for dead. There are numerous reports that Mercedes has friction with it's current mainstream partner over the Smart project. I pray for the day when karma bites Mercedes on the butt. BMW is a much better company but it needs the insulation of a mainstream manufacturer. Mazda makes sense philosophically. Toyota makes no sense because Toyota kills creativity as priority #1. Ironically Honda makes sense IF IF IF BMW were in control of Honda not vice versa. That leaves Hyundai which could be a marriage made in heaven for BMW.