# Johan De Nysschen emailed me, sort of...



## Mazdamia (Jan 5, 2010)

Below you can see an email response from Audi to me, responding to an inquiry I made for manual transmission Avant models to be brought state-side. You may not agree with my letter, but I wanted to express my feelings to Audi USA about the current and future product offerings in the hope that, "if you ask you shall receive." See below for the thoughtful response from Audi USA, and at the end my original letter. Hopefully other potential or current customers feel the same way and reach-out. If not, no worries, to each their own...

"Johan's" email to me:

Dear Mr. XXXX: 

Thank you for contacting us; I am following up on behalf of Johan De Nysschen. We appreciate your interest in the A4 Avant, and regret it does not offer the manual transmission you are seeking. Audi is committed to bringing the models that most fit the U.S. product portfolio to grow our business and to support our sporty, progressive and sophisticated positioning. Our current and ongoing success realized in the United States and abroad is based on a remarkable product portfolio. 

In order to be a leading premium brand in the U.S., Audi must achieve the right balance in this market between our core products, such as the Audi A4, and product derivatives. For the selected products, it is important to identify and respond to preferences for the variants in engines and transmissions which are most attractive to customers in the United States. In the recent past, we have brought significant technological improvements to automatic transmissions, not only by bringing the new S tronic dual-clutch transmission, but also in perfecting shift quality and sportiness in our Tiptronic automatic transmissions. 

As metro areas, where most of our products are sold, grow in traffic congestion, and as a result of the above-mentioned technological improvements, we see an increasing trend toward automatic transmissions. This means, of course, a corresponding decline in manual transmission preferences. Adding a manual derivative to a model line is not a simple matter of “dropping a manual” into the vehicle; it involves a number of changes that must be studied, tested, approved—really like adding a new model. 

That said, we would encourage you to give the Tiptronic® transmission a fair trial; it is faster and more economical than manual and, to the surprise of many who thought of it as just another automatic, it is actually fun to drive, lively and responsive. With the expansion of the Audi line in the U.S. over the past few years, we believe that we have the right mix of vehicles either available now or coming soon. We will continue to keep an eye open to new opportunities and, as we always have, to give sincere consideration to the preferences of our customers in planning for future models. To that end, your letter will be forwarded to the appropriate persons in our Product Development Team. Thank you again for taking the time to write.

Kind regards, 

Skye Giroux

Executive Case Specialist
Audi of America, Inc.
Customer Relations
3499 West Hamlin Rd.
Rochester Hills, MI 48309
United States of America
Tel. +1 248 754 3512
Fax. +1 248 754 6521
mailto:[email protected]
http://www.audiusa.com



My email:

"Mr. Johan de Nysschen,

I have been a passionate fan of Audi and its products for a number of years, and now that I am of the age and means to purchase one, I felt a need to express my disappointment that I am unable to get an Avant model in the USA in manual transmission form.

I know the research may say otherwise, but there is a passionate following in the states for the right manual transmission vehicles, and the A4 is a beautiful vehicle that really has few competitors. The only one I see is the BMW 3series wagon, a vehicle which may no longer be available here with a stick when the new model arrives. Perhaps you would consider a Facebook poll as was done with the TTRS to see if I am alone or not.

I would strongly urge your organization to consider bringing the A4 Avant to the States with a manual transmission because there are still passionate drivers here who need the utility of a wagon, but enjoy the sporty driving in a vehicle such as the A4; and we are sorely under-served.

Thank you for any consideration you may give this."


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## FractureCritical (Nov 24, 2009)

I agree with you 100%. Audi already offers less models and subvariants of models than BMW, and they just keep cutting more and more. I don't know how they ever plan to outsell BMW in the US by offering less variety. Seems like the math of a marketing person, to me.

Just to draw this out a little, the Q series things pretty much killed the Avants, but not for the reasons you'd think. I hate to admit this, but it's true. They are high volume vehicles that totally overshadow the wagons, and audi spends tons to market them. I don't think Audi ever spent a penny marketing any of the wagons they make. "Here's this thing we never advertize and no one ever buys. Americans must not want it" Right. That's why Subi outback sales have been going up year over year, even with the hideous current generation. And don't kid yourself about market share, Scooby's have been climbing in price, you can spend about the same coin for a loaded Outback that you can for an A4.

Ths sad truth is that Audi just plain sucks at market placement. I'm sorry, but it's true. If AoA management ever wakes up, they should fire the entire marketing department. Audi does well at the obvious stuff anyone with a marketing degree can handle. like the 3 sedan sizes and the two SUV sizes. They're neat and easy product segments everyone gets. 

They utterly FAIL at anything that doesn't fit into a premade box. look at the A3. This car is about 300% better than a Mini, but Audi just doesn't know how to promote it, or worse, they say hatches don't sell and ignore it. Yeah, right, that's why Mini is kicking Audi's butt selling NOTHING BUT HATCHES. So now we lose the hatch and get a sedan, which fits fine into the little boxes they understand.

Now let's move onto the A4 Avant. AoA really lost the purpose for this car when the Q5 came along. Again, they just decided to ignore it and let it die. They had a real opportunity to position the car as a barnstormer alternative to a SUV that handles, gets good mileage, and is fun to drive, and they blew it. The real irony here is that they're going to bring it over next year as an "AllRoad". A name that Audi enthusiasts love becuase it's attached to everything that I've noted above via a hot rodded A6 with a twin turbo V6 motor and (GASP!) a stick shift transmission. Put a big motor in this bugger to differentiate from the sedans and from the Q-series. Make the AllRoad a hiking boot counterpart to the S4's racing shoe image. Audi won't do that, it's not one of the premade boxes.

And lastly, I bring this up becuase I never liked the A7, that car is going to die, too. It serves no stated purpose other than to charge more for a slightly altered A6, but with terrible rear head room and no rear visibility. This car exists soley becuase Merc made up a new box, and Audi felt the need to fill that box, too. They never considered anything else about the car. So, Audi has (ONCE AGAIN!) failed to define a role for a car to fill, even after spending millions marketing the thing. Just look at the month over month sales figures for the monstrosity. They've been falling. October sales are 25% lower than the May introduction and it would appear to be a trend. Right now, my local Audi dealer is advertizing A7's for "immidate delivery". They have 12 in stock. (That's over a million dollars of stagnant inventory for those who watch such things) 

I bring this up to prove the point that Audi has no idea what they're doing when it comes to introducing new ideas or models. They bring the suck to it. Audi won't sell a stick wagon, or any wagon for that matter, becuase they have no idea how to do it. The blustering about not being able to sell a stick wagon in the response letter is cute, but ultimately just serves to illustrate thier ignorance about selling cars. 

Now George will probably come along and offer apologist reasoning for why I'm completely wrong and don't know what I'm talking about.:laugh:


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