Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

If you think of a luxury car, do you automatically think of Audi? Others tend to come to mind like Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but Audi? When I think of durability and reliability I definitely think Volkswagen, who is the automaker of Audi. Audi is ambitious and hoping to change the way we think about their brand and are quickly closing the gap on well-known luxury automakers.

Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG, has made the ambitious prediction that by 2015, Audi will be the leading luxury car-maker in the world, not simply by sales figures but through setting the industry pace in technological innovation, brand image, and customer satisfaction. In the US, Lexus is known as the quintessential luxury brand with a flawless record for customer service and brand reliability.

While Audi may be gaining ground in Europe, there may be obstacles here in the US, such as overcoming the brand’s image from 20 years ago when Audi owners accused the car of falsely accelerating. Although it was proven by a government investigation that this was not the case, the damage had been done to the brand’s image and other luxury brands continued to move ahead while Audi’s sales halted.