Artistry and Technology

The main point of a re-imagination of the Audi web site, AudiUSA.com, is to streamline the vehicle-shopping experience for consumers and to make it more engaging with a more “premium” feel that befits the Audi brand.

The completely new site features a simple and elegant design that embodies the Audi brand, the use of clear and immediate search powered by the Google Search Appliance, a cinematic configurator with dramatic imagery, and new-car inventory search that allows shoppers to find the perfect vehicle online at their local dealer.

Built on a cutting-edge platform, the web site seamlessly extends across digital platforms including smartphones and tablets.

Diesel Power

Audi keeps upping the brand commitment to diesel power in the U.S. market. TDI clean-diesel versions of the Audi A6, Audi A7 and Audi Q5 are expected to begin arriving at Audi dealers in late summer, and the company has just announced fuel-economy figures and pricing for each new TDI model.

Mileage for the Audi A6 TDI is 38mpg highway/24 mpg city/27 combined; for the Audi A7 TDI, 38/24/29; and for the Audi Q5 TDI, 31/24/27.

What’s more, the Audi A8 TDI that already is for sale in the U.S. is being lauded for its indicated range of as high as 850 miles per tank by professional reviewers such as Autoblog. TDI-equipped vehicles such as the A8 often not only are exceeding range performance by diesel-powered competitors but also by hybrids.

Driver stress

Audi is stepping up its commitment to becoming the driver’s friend with its sponsorship of new research with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is developing a better understanding of what frustrates drivers - and will suggest ways to make them feel less stress.

Urban mobility is an important theme in the company's own research, so Audi joined forces with the MIT SENSEable City Laboratory to explore a wide range of measurements aimed at quantifying driver stress, especially in the city environments where a greater portion of the globe's population is concentrating.

"If you know where stress for a driver is coming from, you can address it," Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT lab, told Audi Progress.

Supply and Demand

One of the biggest advantages the Audi brand has enjoyed recently in the U.S. market is the urgency that many luxury buyers feel to buy an Audi vehicle, because they see that dealers aren't swimming in inventories -- and interpret that as another indicator that their favorite model is in hot demand. Several Audi nameplates are among the quickest-to-turn in the entire American market.

Such "managed scarcity" is a big advantage to Audi of America and its dealers in terms of creating consumer enthusiasm and increasing profitability. But for Audi executives, creating and sustaining the right level of inventories - providing just enough of the right Audi models to instill a sense of immediacy in buyers, yet not frustrate them - provides a continuing challenge.

"It's a difficult balance to strike," Matt Carpenter, General Manager of Vehicle Sales for Audi of America, told Audi Progress. "You have to manage it strategically, from month to month."

Remarkable consistency

Audi has been nothing if not consistent in the U.S. market over the last several years, in terms of strong market growth, the expansion of its model portfolio and other measures of success.

So it’s little surprise that the May sales figures for the brand released this week – overall, up both for May and for the year to date by a consistent 15 percent -- show Audi of America achieving remarkable consistency in another area: the proportion of its sales that now come from the premium models in its line, the Audi A6, Audi A7, Audi A8 and Audi Q7.

Sales of these vehicles represented 32 percent of total Audi sales year to date, increasing by 20 percent over a year earlier and accounting for 40 percent of the brand’s year-to-date total gains.

Made by Audi

Luca de Meo, Audi Board Member for Sales and Marketing, held forth at the Shanghai Auto Show recently with Automotive News Europe. And so while many of his remarks were China-specific, De Meo also shed some interesting light on AUDI AG plans for the SUV segment, future engines and other topics globally.

Highlights:

“The SUV segment” will grow fastest globally, De Meo said. “Many customers pick those cars because of their unique design, their practicality and their comfortable driving position. I believe that this is a pretty solid global trend What differs depending on the market is size.”

Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

Now that the Audi of America video featuring Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto has gone virulently viral, picking up nearly 6 million views on YouTube in just a few weeks, it’s time to revisit a little-appreciated detail of the 2-1/2-minute spot.

That detail is “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.” Why was Nimoy singing that obscure song as he drove along in his Mercedes CLS 550 to show up for his golf date after Quinto already had arrived – in his Audi S7?

Few but the most rabid Nimoy fans have a clue. So the inclusion of Nimoy’s rendition of the song in the latest Audi “New Luxury” spot is a tip of the hat to those many thousands of Nimoy followers who have loved his work – all of it – over the years, not just his exploits as one of the most memorable science-fiction characters of all time.