Forgive Audi a little hubris. As Bertel Schmitt has explained, mere decades ago “the brand was thought ideal for high school teachers or tax collectors, who kept their hats on while driving.” To now be figuring in the nightmares of Daimler bosses clearly juices up the marketing staff no end. And though Audi may have won that MT comparo referenced in the ad above, BMW has held off the upstarts for at least one more quarter in the “friendly competition” over global sales numbers.
The boys from Bavaria enjoyed a 13.8 increase in sales, moving 265,809 units over the first three months of this year. BMW Group sales, including MINI and Rolls-Royce sold 315,614, as the two British brands added 49,805 sales on the way to an identical 13.8 percent increase.
Audi kept it close though, selling just 1,709 units fewer according to Automotive News [sub], with 264,100. This despite a record March for the Volkswagen-owned brand, and 26.4 percent growth in the first quarter. Mercedes, meanwhile, is languishing at a mere 15 percent growth and 248,500 sales.
Isn’t it a general marketing rule that you don’t mention the competition as “the one’s to beat” in your own ads? Thus admitting that they are the king and exposing them as “the best in class”
That is exactly right. If you didn’t know who the king was you do now: BMW. The best reason Audi owners go red with envy as they wish their cars were as agile, as fuel efficient, as good handling, as prestigious, and held its value as good as… the BMW.
Woah, Deja Vu. It’s the VW/Toyota “we’re #1, no you’re not!” thing all over again.
@tauronmaikar
I think you missed the point of the ads entirely. Most Audi owners specifically *avoid* BMW for one reason or another. Whether its to avoid the image of a-hole BMW drivers, or Audi’s VASTLY superior AWD system (the 335xi is a pathetic joke compared to the S4) or Audi’s better interiors, or their better electronics, etc. Whatever the reason is, most Audi buyers don’t want a BMW.
What the ad is trying to say is that whether it was C&D, or MT, or whatever mag, the automatic winner was always the BMW 3 series or the BMW 5 series. Not anymore. I haven’t seen a single comparison test whether the 335i has come out ahead of the S4. Not the 335xi, the reviewers are not crippling BMW’s chances by forcing a true apples-to-apples, AWD vs AWD comparison. Even giving BMW its best shot, the 3 still can’t win.
Without the S4 winning left and right, there would be no 335is.
@ Davekaybsc
I think you missed the point. One does not acknowledge the competition by name if you are trying to be perceived as having a superior premium product.
That being said, the 2010 S4 indeed does seem to edge out the 335i or xi… until the next 3-series comes out. After that everybody knows it will be time for Audi to dry their tears and go back to the drawing board.
And by the way, Audi’s AWD is indeed the best mechanical system, but the forward placed engine partially offsets the dynamics gains. Besides, Audi’s are pricey compared to the BMW. Think about this, for the dollars you will pay for a well equipped S4 you could buy instead a baseline M3 sedan, enough said.
Just because Audi makes the S4 AWD only (to compensate for its FWD architecture) doesn’t mean that every performance driver needs AWD.
So a comparison test – where inclement weather isn’t a condition- is perfectly fair with an S4 vs. a 335i. It ain’t our fault that Audi doesn’t make a RWD car.
@davekaybsc – well said and has been my case – never considered the 5-Series seriously on the last go ’round because I couldn’t get past the exterior styling. These mags test cars at 9/10ths and 10/10ths where precious few of us ever drive so winning these comparos makes for nice commercials, but can be irrelvant in real world driving for the most of us. The Audi remains the perfect anti-BMW and anti-Benz – and without compromise.
I hate to break this to the Audi fanboy above but unless you car costs $1 million dollars it is full of compromises.
@tauronmaikar – I disagree – even the Bugatti has compromises. Every car has compromises depending on your perspective. I should have said without compromise to what I find to be most important. And I’m also not sure I’d pick an S4 over the 335i either. It beat the 335i in the CD comparo because it was optioned with their drive select feature. They noted the driving dynamics would have been different without it.
After going to the car show and doing some careful examination of the cars, I’d have to say that BMW’s workmanship as far as body panel fit and interior (dashboard) is not what it used to be. I was actually disappointed with the 3 in that regard. It may be a better car dynamically than the Audi, but is does not have equal build quality. I have to add that the only car line of the show that had “bad old days” fit and finish was Jaguar. Each car on display had at least one major body panel misalignment…
To be fair the 3 series is pretty nice, holds value and does handle. I don’t see a lot of enthusiasts driving them though and most of the newer 3 series I see are automatics driven by 20 something Asian girls.
The 5 and 7 series cars and X3 and X5 SUVs are not that reliable and depreciate like rocks just like their equivalent Audi brethren.
Not to mention unless you take the time to fit some blizzaks in late fall to that sedan you will fall off the road with those stock tires at any hint of snow.
Yes they do four wheel drive versions of the sedans but because of the limitations of the packaging they mostly resemble Subaru Outbacks.
I will stick with my Audis (3rd one in 13 years) thanks.
@tauronmaikar
“until the next 3-series comes out. After that everybody knows it will be time for Audi to dry their tears and go back to the drawing board.”
We’ll see about that. Have you seen the reviews of the new F10 5 series? Are the authors screaming “BMW does it again!!! The competition might as well give up and go home, it’s game over!” No, they aren’t. The general consensus seems to be that the new 5 is less ugly, a bit heavier, and a bit duller to drive than its predecessor. The earth has not been shattered, and there’s a very real chance that the upcoming C7 gen A6 will be the better car not just at the end of its life, but right out of the gate.
The days of BMW just walking over everyone else with new 3s and 5s are done. Is the next 3 going to be better than the B8 A4? I would hope so, given that its a newer design. But by how much? And will Audi take the lead back with the B9 A4? It’s a good bet that they will.
@ Dave
Given that the latest M3 offered 20% more performance than the RS4 for 20% less dollar I would say it is a pretty good bet that comparable cars are always outmatched by BMW.
Davekaybsc is right. The M3 might still be dominant, but the new 7 and 5 are hardly setting the world on fire with their road dynamics. BMW is going after the luxury/techno-toy market.
Audi may succeed yet in taking the “driver’s car” market away from BMW. If there actually is a paying “driver’s car market”. My guess is that the push from BMW, M-B and Audi to build armoured rolling video console parlours would indicate that they believe that the money is elsewhere.
The RS4 was based on a design from 2002. We’re only now seeing Audi’s true answer to the E90 M3 – the RS5. While its still going to be a very expensive car, RS models always are, I’m sure that performance advantage that the M3 had compared to the RS4 is gone.
In any event, whether you like Audi or you hate them, the rivalry between the two companies can only benefit customers of both. As I said before, BMW created the 335is as a response to the S4. Even if you never had any intention of going near an Audi dealership, you can still thank Ingolstatd for the 335is. BMW certainly isn’t kept on their toes by the C-class.
BMW buyers fall into 2 classes –
1. buying the ‘ultimate driving machine’ (most of the readers here)
2. buying the roundel
There is a 3, luxury buyers who cross shop other brands, but for BMW that’s not such a big factor. For a lot of people, its a question of ‘which BMW’ rather than why?