The economy is shrinking, consumers are tightening their belts, and it’s suddenly become trendy to be more sensible with one’s money. It's not the type of environment that sees many car manufacturer executives smiling, but in the case of Peter Schwarzenbauer and Martin Sander of Audi, things could definitely look gloomier.
Audi Canada has recently come out of their 13th consecutive record year-- not to mention their best April yet. Being profitable and healthy in these times of bailouts and plummeting stock prices is a reason to smile, indeed.
Sander and Schwarzenbauer are Audi Canada's CEO and Management Board member for Sales and Marketing, respectively. They anticipate finishing 2009 with a sales drop of about 10 percent compared to last year-- even in light of an approximate 15 percent reduction in market size.
According to Schwarzenbauer and Sander, Audi’s ambitious goals, evolving technology and expanding product lineup will help keep them rolling along.
“We see a big opportunity in this crisis right now” Schwarzenbauer commented. “Cash is everything, and it’s never been more important to make 'good' money. We will increase our worldwide product portfolio and are continuing our investments, to carry forward as planned. We're financing new developments out of our own cash flow-- not by going to an external lender”.
‘Cautious’ is a more common describer of automaker goals these days, but Audi is going full steam ahead with an expansion of their product portfolio. All said and done, customers in the not-so-distant future will have some 40 models to choose from, including several with new powertrain technologies.
Much information about Audi’s planned product expansion is yet to become official, but a few spaces are apparent in the current lineup. For instance, there’s room between the A6 and A8 for a large coupe, like the Mercedes CLS.
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| Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG Marketing and Sales. |
Audi Canada has recently come out of their 13th consecutive record year-- not to mention their best April yet. Being profitable and healthy in these times of bailouts and plummeting stock prices is a reason to smile, indeed.
Sander and Schwarzenbauer are Audi Canada's CEO and Management Board member for Sales and Marketing, respectively. They anticipate finishing 2009 with a sales drop of about 10 percent compared to last year-- even in light of an approximate 15 percent reduction in market size.
According to Schwarzenbauer and Sander, Audi’s ambitious goals, evolving technology and expanding product lineup will help keep them rolling along.
“We see a big opportunity in this crisis right now” Schwarzenbauer commented. “Cash is everything, and it’s never been more important to make 'good' money. We will increase our worldwide product portfolio and are continuing our investments, to carry forward as planned. We're financing new developments out of our own cash flow-- not by going to an external lender”.
‘Cautious’ is a more common describer of automaker goals these days, but Audi is going full steam ahead with an expansion of their product portfolio. All said and done, customers in the not-so-distant future will have some 40 models to choose from, including several with new powertrain technologies.
Much information about Audi’s planned product expansion is yet to become official, but a few spaces are apparent in the current lineup. For instance, there’s room between the A6 and A8 for a large coupe, like the Mercedes CLS.
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| Martin Sander, President and CEO. |