Originally posted by M5Power
I assume A3 sells, so why drop it? Especially as it's a direct competitor to the BMW 3-series compact and Mercedes C-sport coupe. Audi's the most viable BMW alternative on the planet, namely because they've got the 3-series' game down. What have you got against the TT?!
Yep, A3 sells, and is quite a decent car. However, I don't see the point of staying in that market sector, when you can sell good Golfs, and continue to make the money. It strikes me that 3-Compact and C-Coupe are reactions to A3. Perhaps Audi could keep it.
TT? It's all about the design, isn't it? It's not actually that good a car. It don't see it as a rival to CLK or 3-Series Coupe. I don't know. I guess I'm tired of it, but there are millions of them about, and it's basically a Golf in a party frock, so it's probably made them a hill of money.
The real problem I see is that Audi can't afford to keep with BMW. Audi's just about caught up to BMW now - they have no Z8 or 3-series coupe competitor, but they're developing the latter. The problem is, BMW might be actually sensing the competition and they're coming out with a score of new models: X3, 1-series, 4-series, 6-series, and maybe more. That means Audi's once again going to have to be playing catch-up.
6-Series is starting to get some not-terribly-good reviews over here. Z8 also lacked critical acclaim in the UK, mainly because everyone thought "M5 engine in roadster? That'll be awesome), and what they actually got was something of a boat. And it's actually less attractive in 3D. Not a good seller in the UK either.
In my vision, 1-Series should be handled by Polo/Golf. VW have it within their power to build excellent cars, especially smaller cars, so why not leave it to them? I'm yet to be convinced by BMW going into this sector. Is there money to be made there by a premium product? I fear not, as it's the most competitive sector in Europe, and everyone buying in that sector is very price-conscious.
Audi, thankfully, appear to be leaving the SUV sector alone (this based on my differing interpretation of the Allroad's market placement), and I think they should continue to do this, thus ignoring the X3, which is itself the depths of marketing cynicism. Let BMW spend the money in that sector.
Is there space between 3- and 5- for a 4-Series?
I wonder if it's not the case that any car maker who specifically goes after BMW isn't automatically on a hiding to nothing. I would have thought you're much better off building cars which are broadly similar in aims, but which are different. The thing with BMW is that they appear (that word used literally) to have sewn up the performance saloon and small-to-medium strict coupe markets.
Personally, I think that 6-Series is going to fail, because it's very expensive, and it's very big, and while BMW desperately wish it to be a new-millenium M635CSi, it's absolutely not, and wishing it to be so will not make it so. It's more a slightly revised 8-Series. I can't see a market for it, unless there's a mass-defection from the XK8, which, incredibly, still seems to be shifting the units. (Incidentally, had an opportunity to compare performance of my 1.8i Focus with an XK8 the other day, and was less than impressed, until 85mph, when it breezed past me, only for me to take 200m off it under braking).
CLK sales seem to have dropped away (Mercedes beginning to get a reputation for unreliability in UK now), and with the base-model 911 dropping relatively in price, there's less of a compelling argument for purchasing something else new, especially when one can get a 2yo 911 for sensible money.
So. I see a short shelf-life for 6-Series and X3. I await 1- and 4-Series with interest, and it will be interesting to see what the reskinned 7- looks like. Overall though, I see a retrenchement into the core 3-, 5-, 7-, Z4 markets. BMW's next important car will be the next X5. If they get that wrong, they're in a mire of poo.
