Audi is a sore loser: "Audi Responds to Report About Tesla Model S Beating its A8's"

[AustinPowers]

First to market principle will make Audi look like copycats. Apple had plenty of imitators, but consumers are brand loyal.

Funny then that Samsung is market leader in the smartphone field worldwide... :tongue:
In former times, consumers used to be brand loyal. The big problem for almost every company nowadays is the fact that ever fewer people remain brand loyal. Most don't give a sh** about what brand their product comes from, even with such products like cars. All that counts seems to be features and price.

And about Audi's EV plans: from what I've heard from an insider at VW, even the Golf EV has been cancelled or at least pushed back quite a bit - even though that might change again, if Hackenberg decides to go back into the EV direction with Audi. We'll see.

 

[Citizen-T]

Brand loyalty in my opinion is just laziness. It made sense in the days before the internet. Switching to a new brand was a step into the unknown. Now you can research a product until you drop dead. You can read customer reviews and watch videos of it being run over by a truck. You can know so much about a product before you buy it, you don't need to rely on it being a "good brand" or one that you "like" anymore.

I'll buy from anyone that has a 5 star rating on Amazon (and a significant number of reviews). I don't care what the brand is.

 

[aznt1217]

Brand loyalty in my opinion is just laziness. It made sense in the days before the internet. Switching to a new brand was a step into the unknown. Now you can research a product until you drop dead. You can read customer reviews and watch videos of it being run over by a truck. You can know so much about a product before you buy it, you don't need to rely on it being a "good brand" or one that you "like" anymore.

I'll buy from anyone that has a 5 star rating on Amazon (and a significant number of reviews). I don't care what the brand is.

Not necessarily laziness. I'd argue it's the fact that humans (most) are naturally inclined to reject change. We don't like it. Good thing for us our minds are disconnected from our hearts in some cases.

 

[Krugerrand]

Brand loyalty in my opinion is just laziness.

Loyalty is a trait prized by a significant portion of humanity and has nothing to do with laziness. It doesn't always appear to make sense why anyone would be loyal to a certain thing (like a Brand), person or group, but it's very real and despite claiming you don't care, you actually do. You're a loyal customer of those on Amazon who have a 5-star rating and a significant number of reviews.

 

[Linux64]

Brand loyalty in my opinion is just laziness. It made sense in the days before the internet. Switching to a new brand was a step into the unknown. Now you can research a product until you drop dead. You can read customer reviews and watch videos of it being run over by a truck. You can know so much about a product before you buy it, you don't need to rely on it being a "good brand" or one that you "like" anymore.

I'll buy from anyone that has a 5 star rating on Amazon (and a significant number of reviews). I don't care what the brand is.

Agreed -- I ordered my P85+ without ever having seen a Tesla in person or test driving one. I was confident because I researched it to death.

However, I think people still do have brand loyalty.

 

[Doug_G]

Humans can't process all the information that we receive, so we use shortcuts to make decisions. Brand loyalty is one of those. You had a good experience with the last one, so you get another one.

 

[gregincal]

Humans can't process all the information that we receive, so we use shortcuts to make decisions. Brand loyalty is one of those. You had a good experience with the last one, so you get another one.

Sure, to a point. However, I've owned 7 cars in my life from 7 different car companies. However, I wouldn't be surprised to stick with the same brand for the first time when I buy my next car.:wink: That doesn't have as much to do with brand loyalty as the fact that I would be shocked if the traditional car companies actually manage to field a competitive product any time soon. I do think the Apple analogy applies here. Yes, Samsung has overtaken Apple in smart phone sales, but not until Apple became the most valuable company on the planet. When the iPhone came out people were predicting competing products would sink Apple sales within the year, but it took years for other companies to catch up, and I don't think Samsung ever would have managed without Google.

 

[AustinPowers]

Loyalty is a trait prized by a significant portion of humanity and has nothing to do with laziness. It doesn't always appear to make sense why anyone would be loyal to a certain thing (like a Brand), person or group, but it's very real and despite claiming you don't care, you actually do. You're a loyal customer of those on Amazon who have a 5-star rating and a significant number of reviews.

But usually buying at Amazon proves Citizen-T's own point that he is lazy. Too lazy to look up if a different online retailer might better suit his needs.
And while I agree that loyalty in itself, especially personal loyalty, is a very important human trait, when it comes to brands there doesn't need to be any loyalty from customers. That's just a convenience for brands that some people will always buy from them, no matter if other companies might offer a similar product at a (much) better value for money.

 

[towman26]

I had a Audi owner friend of mine drove my S then went the next day to order his S and is trading his Audi in

 

[ClearwaterBchSteve]

I had a Audi owner friend of mine drove my S then went the next day to order his S and is trading his Audi in

Our car before the Model S was a mint, loaded Audi S4 (the best and coolest car I ever had). I drove the S4 to the Tesla Test Drive event last summer and after driving the Tesla, I knew the Audi's days were numbered. Audi makes fine cars, however Model S's are revolutionary.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Our car before the Model S was a mint, loaded Audi S4 (the best and coolest car I ever had). I drove the S4 to the Tesla Test Drive event last summer and after driving the Tesla, I knew the Audi's days were numbered. Audi makes fine cars, however Model S's are revolutionary.

Same here. I chipped my S4 and got an aftermarket intake and exhaust. Great car. Had the Tesla for a week and that sucker was gone.

A friend of mine was going to wait out his lease on his A4 until the Model X came out. After a few rides in my Model S he switched his order from an X to an S and turned his lease in early. The used car guy at the Audi dealership mentioned he was the 6th person that month to turn in their Audi lease early for a Tesla.

Audi, we had 13 great years together and all but you should know there's someone new...