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NEWS
Audi holds out hope for 20k tally
Local MD Andrew Doyle believes prestige importer can achieve 20,000 sales in a yearA stronger Australian market in 2013 has prompted Audi's local MD, Andrew Doyle, to revive an old meme – achieving 20,000 annual sales for the prestige brand.
In recent years Doyle's two predecessors, Uwe Hagen and Joerg Hofmann have both drawn back from such a sales target, with Hofmann indicating back in 2009 that 18,000 units was the effective upper limit for any prestige brand in Australia.
But times change. During the recent launch of the A3 Sportback 1.4 TFSI COD and 1.8 TFSI quattro, Doyle was confident that Audi could achieve 20,000 sales in Australia, off the back of current expectations for 2013.
"We're going to hit our 2015 strategic target of 15,000 two years ahead of schedule," Doyle told motoring.com.au. "So we're very pleased with the way it's progressing. We're well on track to doing it.
"We talked originally about 2015, but the market has moved quite a bit over the last five years. Internally, we're very pleased... to achieve our 2015 target two years early.
"Over the next five to seven years we've got a plan that will get us much, much higher numbers."
Furthermore, as Doyle pointed out – and in contrast with Joerg Hofmann's more conservative views four years ago – BMW and Mercedes-Benz are likely to reach close to – or surpass – 20,000 sales this year, with Munich posting over 13,000 sales for this year so far and Mercedes-Benz hovering around 15,000 as of the end of August (after setting aside commercial vehicle sales).
Part of the reason all three German prestige brands are predicting inordinate sales growth looking forward, compared with recent years, is due to brand perception failing to keep up with smaller models – led principally by Benz's A-Class. While the new Benz is positioned far from prestige pricing at the entry level, it remains a Benz in the truest sense of the name, and isn't considered a volume-selling budget model, despite its pricing.
Audi is experiencing something similar with the new A3, the third-generation series of the car that Ingolstadt claims pioneered the theme of marketing a full-size car in a small-car package. Doyle is predicting 10 per cent growth for Audi in Australia over the next 12 months – and that charge will be fuelled by smaller models in the range.
"We have strong growth in A3, Q3 – they're the main drivers of [the sales growth] right now, but with the launch of a new model [A3] obviously... that's the main driver..." he said. And unlike Benz, Audi has sufficient supply of new A3 to meet demand, Doyle continued.
"It's not a huge wait list right now... we do have a good pipeline coming through," he explained.
"Clearly we're very pleased with the order intake though, especially over the June period – not longer after launch... it's been very strong."
Does that mean the new A3 can reel in the popular A-Class? According to Doyle, it does.
"It's a very competitive segment... we think we offer the best overall package... we have a good existing... let's say 'car park' of clients over the years...
"We were following the A-Class, which had some competitive pricing as well... this year, so that obviously means they've got a head start on us. And it's a great product, there's no question.
"We've got ambitious numbers and we think we can reclaim our space as the number one in the segment."
While Audi has seen consistent sales growth in Australia for the past nine years (by Doyle's reckoning), sales did flatten out at the end of 2012.
"The A4 was pre- and post-lifecycle product improvement," Doyle explained. "That was the major driver of slower growth. There was a general slowdown, if I'm not mistaken, in the industry [as well], which contributed.
"Modest growth, I think it was half a per cent or so."
Closer analysis of VFACTS figures for 2013 suggests that Audi is increasingly reliant on SUVs to boost its sales, with passenger car sales stagnating or in decline – with the exception of the A3, of course.
"To some extent it's a function of lifecycle;" Doyle answered. "It's great that we have such high-performing [SUV] models – Q3, Q5 and Q7. So we're very fortunate, and clearly the Australian public really warm to those products and are buying them in large numbers... that's a great thing."
Is there a danger the company is becoming too dependent on SUVs in the range?
"We'll take all the sales growth we can get from popular models;" Doyle replied. "I still think there's a very strong place in the market for A4 and A6 in the so-called traditional style of models.
"I'd always like to sell more, but I think to now it's a lifecycle discussion rather than a movement away from that or that we're too focused on SUVs...
"The Australian public is very fond of SUVs, so we're very fortunate to have such a strong product portfolio.
But does the current dependence on SUVs, due to demand, mean Audi's local brand image is in a state of flux?
"No, I wouldn't say so at all," Doyle responded. "Our brand image is growing every year; the internal monitors that we have show that our brand image is very much on the right trajectory for a brand that's still relatively young in the Australian marketplace – compared to our main competitors.
"We're very pleased with the development of the brand."
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Written byKen Gratton
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