Audi’s sales boss says the brand isn’t well established enough in the US to support sales of small cars.
Peter Schwarzenbauer, responsible for global sales and marketing at Audi, also ruled out bringing the upcoming A1 to the US market for that same reason.
Audi has spent the better part of the last 15 years successfully building its brand to compete against its chief rivals, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But Schwarzenbauer doesn’t believe the brand can easily go down market in the US like the 3 German premium brands have done in Europe. Over the last decade, those automakers have introduced smaller models such as the Mercedes A and B Class, the BMW 1-series and Audi with the A1, A2 (discontinued) and A3 models. Schwarzenbauer also ruled out a sub-brand like BMW has with MINI and Mercedes has with Smart.
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