Audi make too many cars!!

[sly fox]

Some Gump said:

I see your point, but i read that and assumed that that wker next door to you just bought a white q5 for his missus and it's pissed you off somewhat...

No )

Wasn't necessarily picking on Audi despite topic, i have more of a beef with relentless and imaginative marketing that then shapes our lives.
A few X5s sell, then they just repeat the formula in various sizes depending on your monthly budget. Just as well most car buyers are such sheep and we lap it up and top up car manufacturer's coffers.

Deep eh?

[b0rk]

Some Gump said:

The real coup is that you think they're all totally different cars, but they're heavily platform shared.

VAG are all about modules not platforms now.
MQB = supermini to family car, 18 vehicles
MLP = family car to large executive limo. 7 vehicles
MHB = city car, 3 vehicles

The 4x4's module/platform share with cars, Q3 is MQB and Q5 is MLP.

There is supposedly a sports car module architecture in the works that'll grab everything from a cayman to an R8 and probably future lambo's.

Bugatti, Lambo, Bentley and Porsche are the VAG brands not currently platform sharing.

[Ved]

They have 48 model variations right now. It's silly but obviously they just build tweeners now rather than the usual three of hatch, saloon, estate. Long gone are those days.

[Kolbenkopp]

jhonn said:

Thanks - makes me wonder if Audi have done their market research and concluded that there's no current market for a replacement, or maybe if they brought out a small car that was truly innovative again that it may make the rest of the range look a bit 'samey'; it wouldn't 'fit' with the current line-up.

Think you are right. Looks like inside the VAG empire, someone decided that the core brand, Volkswagen, is going to do the efficient and avant garde general purpose cars now. See XL1, Polo Blue GT etc.

Audi is there to milk the premium market with high margin, high quality (well mostly interior) derivatives of mainstream cars. As others have pointed out, at least financially that is working very, very well. The people like it.

Closest spiritual successor to the A2 probably comes from Munich right now (BMW i3). Not as much "Vorsprung durch Technik" as hard core electric car nerds would have liked, but still much much more advanced than anything you can actually buy from Audi. I believe the Ingolstadt crew is setting up the "e-tron" brand as we speak, to cover BMW "i" rivals in case they are a commercial success. Looks like a very half arsed effort at the moment though.

[Tannedbaldhead]

Audi? Too many cars? According to this guy there aren't enough

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by Tannedbaldhead on Tuesday 24th September 23:55

[Ren Esis]

Audi's design department are extremely lazy.

Here's a current gen A3 and A5.



And a close up of the front end



The differences are miniscule. I can understand with the first gen 3 series and 5 series, back in a time where a lot of manufacturers were trying to keep costs down but Audi really have no excuse given the amount of money they make.

Sure they sell the cars by the bucketload, but it cheapens the brand image IMO. This is not just towards Audi, BMW are also guilty of this but not to the extent of the above. This is the reason the new Mondeo appeals to me much more than an A6 or 5 series would.

Edited by Ren Esis on Wednesday 25th September 12:31

[Paul O]

A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8
Plus 3/5 door/cabrio versions

Plus Q3, Q5, Q7

Plus S versions.


You think they've gto too many? My guess is they are lying awake at night sweating about the missed opportunity of niche markets that need to be filled. PLenty of scope yet - we'll have the A2 before long, how about a Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q8?

And in a few years, when the A1 grows to A2 territory, we'll have an A0.

Plenty more to go! They are just getting started....

[AJB]

Ren Esis said:

Audi's design department are extremely lazy.

Here's a current gen A3 and A5.

....

The differences are miniscule. I can understand with the first gen 3 series and 5 series, back in a time where a lot of manufacturers were trying to keep costs down but Audi really have no excuse given the amount of money they make.

As I've said before, I don't think it's laziness and it's not a new thing. And I don't think it's a cost thing - the first gen 3 and 5 series would have had different dimensions and different tooling for every single part and panel. The actual cost of paying someone to come up with the "look" is tiny compared to the cost of getting the bits designed in detail, tooled up for, and made and stocked.

It's a design decision to have a strong family resemblance - most manufacturers have made that choice at some periods in time. And it's the customers choice whether that's good, bad or indifferent for them. Personally it doesn't bother me at all. I've owned a W123 Merc (which looks very much like its W116 S class big brother), an E39 BMW (which looks very much like its E36 and E38 siblings), and a recent Audi (which looks like all other recent Audis). My parents had a Mk5 Cortina (which looks just like the Mk2 Granada). I've also had cars which look nothing like their "family".

As long as I like the shape/look, it makes no difference to me personally if there are bigger or smaller versions available or not. Other people might not like it, and might want a car which looks like nothing else. Still others might like the family look and branding, and like the fact that their car is a particular make rather than a particular model.

[xRIEx]

I heard they're going to launch a range of covered car tranporter trailers that will each fit a particular model; they'll be called the C4, C5, C6 etc. depending on model.









Yes, extremely tenuous joke

[Mermaid]

Paul O said:

A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8
Plus 3/5 door/cabrio versions

Plus Q3, Q5, Q7

Plus S versions.


You think they've gto too many? My guess is they are lying awake at night sweating about the missed opportunity of niche markets that need to be filled. PLenty of scope yet - we'll have the A2 before long, how about a Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q8?

And in a few years, when the A1 grows to A2 territory, we'll have an A0.

Plenty more to go! They are just getting started....

Super small, Small, medium,large, extra large, XXL, XXXL, XXXXL

[ajprice]

Paul O said:

And in a few years, when the A1 grows to A2 territory, we'll have an A0.

There was a photoshop in Auto Bild a while back of a VW Up based Audi EV car, it probably has nothing to do with anything real from Audi though

[shakotan]

Paul O said:

we'll have the A2 before long

Er, we've already had the A2.



...and it's due to come back in 2014.

[Mermaid]

shakotan said:

Paul O said:

we'll have the A2 before long

Er, we've already had the A2.



...and it's due to come back in 2014.

I'd buy the old one now -if someone has an ultra low mileage 1.6FSi - and leather seats please.

[Amirhussain]

What was so good about the Audi A2? I'm only 18, so don't know much about it.

[shakotan]

Amirhussain said:

What was so good about the Audi A2? I'm only 18, so don't know much about it.

1.4TDi did ridiculous MPG, and it was a very well packaged car. Outside of specialist cars, it seems to be one of the most depreciation-proof vehicles out there, with a good 12-year old model still fetching upwards of £3000.

[ajprice]

It was aluminium, and had small engines, so the MPG was silly numbers for its time and still respectable now.

[Cupramax]

Made of aluminium so very light and very low drag coefficient, petrol was only 895kg, light = nippy, handle nicely and very economical, they were way ahead of their time.