Audi lead times: all marketing?
Summary
Audi’s apparent lead time and stock woes could be a canny marketing stunt, according to Askaprice.com.
Audi has acknowledged a problem with UK demand outstripping supply, with lead times apparently stretching to six months for some models and low availability on all models.
Audi UK director Jeremy Hicks even commented on the issue recently, though he went on to state that shortages should not be an issue in 2011. Despite this, Audi is set to exceed 100,000, potentially topping Audi’s previous best-ever year in 2008.
However, car-buying website Askaprice.com has another theory about Audi’s apparent lack of stock, and claims that Audi is stimulating the desirability of its cars by claiming extraordinary waiting times.
That means stronger sales values and has a positive knock-on effect on residual values, providing a genuine win-win for any manufacturer, says Askaprice.
Askaprice says it was able to locate a ready-to-buy Audi A5 at a UK Audi dealership, despite reports that the new supermini was completely sold out for 2010.