Common platforms, different top designers and marketing strategy. But most stuff is bought at global brand level, ie vwg afaik, so components are interchangeable even tho they will have different part numbers. Makes commercial sense. And they have played with, and still do, service only sites across brands.
Good point, worth getting your Audi serviced at a Skoda dealer, much cheaper labour rate and doesn't affect the warranty.
a while back i had to buy some alfa cam rockers £15 each. shortly after i had to buy some vauxhall rockers same engine both came in fiat boxes £6 each. if that isn't marketing what is.
Sorry, you're quite correct to pull me up on this post. Apologies for that, it was a bit strong. It is wrong to generalise like this, but the experience of my mates and colleagues is of around 4 or 5 dealers up here in Scotland and the comments are universally negative. I am sure these are more front of house / sales related staff than technicians, which is why I can't understand how they can appear to offer this sort of service (or at the very least this sort of impression). I hope I've not offended you, it wasn't the aim of the post. I was trying to convey my disbelief that a premium brand like Audi can somehow give this impression to quite a few of its customers. But the fact the same customers who complain about this stuff keep returning suggests it either isn't quite true or that the brand outweighs any negatives on the customer service side. I'd edit the post to remove what I said, but I think it's better to leave it and apologise than change it after the event. Sorry for being a twat. :Blackeye:
I had a brief experience of owing a BMW bike and using the combined dealership, cars and bikes in one place. I actually thought it worked pretty well. I have to say, my experience with BMW was I could turn up anywhere at an official dealer, be offered free hospitality in terms of drinks, snacks etc. and even for a trivial purchase, they ensured I had some owner discount as a new owner. I was warmly welcomed at a different dealer and the overall experience was positive. They didn't have any issue with me in leathers sat on the sofas and I didn't see any tweed owners though I admit I have a shooting jackets myself, just not for the bike. If done in a manner that protects the integrity of the brand (BMW have one brand, Audi have many) then it could work. I don't want an Audi badged bike or purely Audi experience. Maybe Audi will stop mixed dealerships like Honda at P&H and enforce a separate customer facing front they control. In terms of customer service, that's always an individual thing but i don't want big price hikes just because I'm at an Audi dealership that costs a fortune to maintain. I've never owned an Audi so can't comment on their customer service really but there will good and bad just like Ducati dealers - usually individual stories and not a general theme for any dealer.
The point would be to buy market share, increase volume, and achieve economies of scale in purchasing, development, and manufacturing. So long as the VW marques are growing in the market, no doubt VW will keep them separate. But if (or when) the day comes when one or more of the marques loses market share and become unprofitable, it will soon be submerged. Look at General Motors with Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Cadillac, Saturn, and Hummer; how many of those marque names are they still using today?
