German car dealers in Germany have criticized the current prices of Audi. “We’ve been noticing a massive sales drop for the Audi brand for a while now”said Alexander Sauer-Wagner, president of the VW and Audi partner association, which represents nearly 2,000 car dealerships in Germany, to the “Spiegel”.
Many models, he complained, have “become significantly too expensive”especially electric cars. Upper-class vehicles, he claimed, mostly cost more than 100,000 euros. Leasing rates have also increased, with prices for the same model sometimes rising from 350 to 800 euros per month, according to Sauer-Wagner. This has led to many commercial customers switching to other brands: instead of the Audi A6, they would order a Skoda Superb.
Sauer-Wagner sees the problem primarily in the product range. “We lack a more affordable entry-level diesel, instead of which Audi mainly offers high-priced, high-performance models”he said.
He is also skeptical about Audi’s planned Formula 1 engagement. “That’s certainly a powerful marketing tool, but in the next few years, Formula 1 is likely to have only a limited effect on Audi’s sales in Germany”Sauer-Wagner said.