Dont worry guys i know this is a Audi forum. I own a 01 A4 T and love it. My dad is in the car biz and was driving an 06 passat T so i took it for a little spin. the only thing that i liked about the car was the key. its totally different then my key but besides that i hated the car. One of the tires was maybe 3 psi low and the car beeped every second it got just to let me know. and because of that the traction control wasnt working. the car only had 8k miles on it and my dad owned it for 15k talk about loss of value. My 01 audi is my first car of my own and i dont think i will ever change. especially to a VW. Im embrasssed that audi has to be contected with them.

 

well that sucks that the car sucked but good that your happy with your 01 A4 over an 06 model vw

 

"The Audi brand group is made up of the Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini brands. The Volkswagen brand group includes the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Å*koda, Bentley and Bugatti brands. Each brand has its own character, and operates autonomously on the market". (volkswagen.com)

I'd say that's a nice collection of cars. Now, if I was a Lamborghini or Bugatti owner, I might be kind of embarassed to say that my exotic is owned by VW.

Also, keep in mind that I dont' know of any other luxury brand being owned by someone else. Jaguar, Land Rover & Aston Martin are all owned by Ford. Then you also have the joint partnership of Daimler/Chrysler. Also, Ferrari, Lancia, Alfa Romero, and Maserati is owned by the Fiat group.

 

If they opperate so differently then why is my local dealer Audi and VW -Thats like saying Chevy and GMC arent the same company.

 

That's because the VW group and Audi group have decided to share some parts between the two groups. For example, most of the new Jaguars have lots of Ford stuff inside of them. Does that make Jaguar less of a car? Does it make Audi less of a car because it's owned by VW? You can go to a VW stealership & get lots of the same parts that you can at an Audi stealership, yet you will pay less for the same item at VW than you would at Audi. Don't know why that is, but it is.

 

Only luxury car company I know of that is not yet owned by someone else is BMW.

 

off topic
Here is some inside info : ) I work for a comany that is owned by FIAT they don't view Ferrari as even being in their automotive group - they see it as a racing group. thats why last year they "sold" Maseratti who was under Ferrari to Alfa Romeo.

I'm in no way saying that a premium company is any less because it is owned by a "lesser" name. I'm just saying that in the end the $$$ is going to the same pocket. But, for example when Ford runs an explorer and mercury mountaineer down the same production line how can you justify brand differentiation.

Do Audi and VW share any plants?

 

Yeah, I forgot about them. I think they're the only ones. All the other premium luxury brands are owned by others. I don't know of any plant sharing between Audi and VW. Audis in Germany are built in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt. VW's in Germany are built in Dresden, Hanover, Kassel, Emden, Braunschweig and Salzgitter. So, no line sharing there.

 

But when people see Audi's and VW's they see the same car. thats all im saying. the typical person sees the two with almost the same body style and thinks of them being together. Thats what i meant when i said im embrasssd being connected with them. There is nothing wrong with a company owning another one. its not lesser of a brand.

 

I know some of the styling cues are shared by the parent company and one of its subsidiaries. I'm in no way embarassed that my B6 may have a very slight resemblence to the Jetta. They are probably doing this to save some $, and to show others that this type of styling is distinctly VW/Audi. Brand differentiation. But the two have very different characteristics. Audi has by far the best interior of any brand. They've had numerous write-ups in magazines about how the editors are so impressed by the Audi's interiors vs. the competition. The same cannot be said of VW. I was in a new Jetta a couple weeks ago, and I was shocked to find so may "plastic" pieces. You know, the ones that actually look cheap? Try to find a cheap plastic piece in an Audi. It's hard to find one, cause the interior is so well designed.

How many times have you driven past a big SUV trying to figure out if it is a GMC Yukon or a Chevy Tahoe? It's easier to tell an Escalade apart from the other two, but all are based on the same platform. I think it's good that there's some sharing going on between the two brands. It makes some parts cheaper for us, if we have to buy parts from a stealership. You'll pay a lot less by going to a VW stealership, than going to an Audi one.