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After five years of obsessive pursuit of German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the Aussie market Audi is about to celebrate with an explosion of fun, frivolity and, if the marketing mail is right, even more impressive sales. The baby A1 Audi's direct competitor in both size and whimsy for BMW's wildly successful Mini will break cover at the Geneva motor show in March, go on sale in Europe towards the end of this year and be available to Australian buyers early in 2011.
"That is a great car and we are definitely going to bring it to Australia as soon as we possibly can," Audi Australia's general manager for marketing, Immo Buschmann, says. "It is a car that I am really looking forward to having some fun with in the marketing ... it is a marketer's dream."
Audi has been drip-feeding shadow images, sketches and design tid-bits such as a colour contrast line along the edge of roof above the A- and B-pillars since confirming the existence of the A1 late last year. True to the concept that proved so successful with the Mini, the A1 will allow owners to individualise their cars to the extent that no two need ever be the same.
"The great thing about the A1 is that it is a product that appeals to a certain clientele and it allows us to take a marketing approach that is a lot wilder without jeopardising the prestige position of the brand," Buschmann says."The sub-compact segment is one in which we have never competed and in many ways the A1 will offer similar opportunities as the TT did when it launched. The car is so different that while it is definitely an Audi there is the opportunity to go a little wild, a little off-beat without the danger of damaging the core values of the Audi range."
Buschmann says that while the positioning of the car possibly in the mid-$30,000 range to go head-to-head with Mini will offer an achievable step into the Audi brand for young aspirational buyers there is a huge sales opportunity amongst existing brand owners.
"I honestly believe that the majority of A1 buyers will be people who already have an A8 or an A6 in the garage and buy the A1 as a second car ... one that they may drive to the office during the week while keeping the A8 or A6 for the weekends."
The A1 is expected to be offered with a range of engines, both diesel and petrol, a combination of manual and automatic gearboxes and a full suite of electronic safety systems. The cars will also feature start-stop technology, brake energy recuperation and an on-board computer with efficiency program.
Buschmann concedes that Audi will have a much quieter 2010 with fewer new models than in the past couple of years, but sees it as a consolidation of five years of constant growth which has seen the sales rise from under 4000 to more than 11,000 last year.
"We do not have the volume models arriving this year but there are still some very important branding models planned," Buschmann says. Following the A5 Sportback, which goes on sale on February 1, Audi's key model will be the all-new A8 limousine due around August and followed by the super-sport R8 V10 Spyder towards the end of the year.
The A1 should be on sale in Australia by February or March next year with the still-secret A7 range to follow later in 2011. That will give Audi a core model range of A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8 and R8 with a mix of body style, engine and gearbox combinations that will stretch the number of individual choices for buyers to more than 100 something Buschmann sees not as confusing but as an opportunity.
"It is not complexity in a sense," Buschmann says. "It is a matter of choice. Some people saddle the horse differently than we do. I think complexity is a level of management. If you manage it well and communicate well then complexity becomes an opportunity and we see this (niche models) as an opportunity. It is giving the customer the opportunity to stay within the brand and choose a vehicle that suits his or her needs and lifestyle."
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