The U.S. luxury car market has been a bonanza for Mercedes and BMW as they have motored from one sales record to another. But the third German luxury brand, Audi, keeps making detours. Despite its backing by corporate parent Volkswagen, pioneering engineering developments like all-wheel drive and a strong performance elsewhere around the world, its stop-and-go efforts have caused it to get lost in the shuffle. Audi has lost money in the U.S. for years.
The automaker has missed opportunity upon opportunity in the U.S. As long ago as 1975, it sold more than 50,000 cars here but 25 years later it had only gotten to 65,000. Lexus, by comparison, didn't get started until 1989 and today is selling around 300,000 vehicles a year. Audi has suffered revolving door management, inconsistent marketing and inattention to customer needs. While Lexus gets nearly half its sales from SUVs, Audi didn't get around to selling one, the Q7, until this year.
For all its shortcomings in the U.S., Audi performs strongly elsewhere. Its brand is strong in Europe, where Audi's are seen as equals in image and performance to its better-known competitors and command similar prices. Audi has also moved aggressively overseas and has become the most popular luxury car in China. Overall, the company expects to sell 890,000 cars this year and is aiming for 1.4 million by 2015 - a position from which it might be able to claim luxury car leadership.
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