Audi: Best Market-Oriented Company in the Automotive Industry

The management consultancy of the international BBDO Group has named Audi the best market-oriented company in the automotive industry. The brand with the four rings took second place overall in a pool of 282 participating companies from all sectors. The marketing experts were most impressed by the brand’s high standard of innovation and closeness to its customers.

Audi has once again demonstrated its abilities as a successful maker of premium cars. “Audi sets itself apart through premium quality, outstanding information management and high innovative capability,” the jury said in explaining its selection. This is why marketing experts from both the theoretical and hands-on realms presented AUDI AG with the BBDO Consulting Best Marketing Company Award. The BBDO management consultancy conducted the study on market orientation in cooperation with the chair for innovative brand management at the University of Bremen. The study determined the level of success of the marketing strategies for a total of 282 German companies from all types of sectors.

Michael Renz, Head of Marketing at Audi, knows that market orientation is crucial to the success of a company. “Only a company that understands its customers can achieve lasting success with its brand and products,” Renz said. Along with the methods of classic market research such as extensive surveys, in-depth interviews and so-called product clinics, Audi also relies on complex analyses of behavior and buying. The brand studies the current demands and needs of relevant groups of customers as well as future trends that will change the lifestyles of target groups worldwide and thus what they expect from their cars.

The findings are substantiated by internal programs such as the “Audi Experience” program, in which managers from all divisions of AUDI AG visit families from Audi’s target groups. Renz has personally taken part in this program and is convinced of its effectiveness. “Such field studies are a leap towards transferral of theoretical findings into practice – and are an excellent complement to classic market research,” he said.

As premium carmaker, the success of Audi is based on the highest quality, down to the smallest detail. Product developments as well as customer service closely follow customer demand, making Audi a trendsetter among automotive companies. The strong market orientation, close cooperation between marketing, sales and research and development, and the densely woven sales and service network lead to high customer satisfaction and loyalty. This has made the brand one of the world’s most successful makers of premium cars today.

AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. With revenue of €33,617 million and profit before tax of €2,915 million, the company attained its best figures ever. Audi produces vehicles in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Györ (Hungary), Changchun (China) and Brussels (Belgium). At the end of 2007, production of the Audi A6 started in Aurangabad, India. The company is active in more than 100 markets worldwide. AUDI AG’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Automobili Lamborghini Hoolding S.p.A. in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi employs about 54,000 people worldwide, including 45,000 in Germany. The brand with the four rings invests more than € 2 billion each year in order to sustain the company’s technological lead embodied in its “Vorsprung durch Technik” slogan. Audi plans to significantly increase the number of models in its portfolio by 2015, from the 26 currently on offer to 40.