As Audi plants struggle to meet demand, buyers wait months for cars

As Audi plants struggle to meet demand, buyers wait months for cars

Filed under: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz 2012 Audi A6 - Click above for a high-res image gallery The Volkswagen Group wants to be number one in global sales, luxury sales and, hopefully, profits. In order to reach the auto sales zenith, however, Volkswagen may need to make room for more Audi production. Bloomberg reports that Audi is struggling to meet demand for the A3 and A6, with buyers waiting three to four months to take delivery of those models. Audi sales boss Peter Schwarzenbauer tells Bloomberg that its factories are running at full throttle and that if sales continue to grow it will be "difficult to say how long it could take to reduce waiting times." So why arent car buyers leaving Audi for the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz? The line for Germanys other luxury makes can be just as long. All three automakers reported record sales in January, and thats with buyers waiting up to six months for hot new vehicles like the new BMW X3. While all three German luxury struggle to keep pace with demand, experts say Audi is in the toughest spot, with wait times up to two months longer than its competitors. Will the Volkswagen Group address the problem in a timely manner? Since Audi reportedly contributed 47 percent of VWs overall profits for the past nine months, execs should be eager to take care of their cash cow. Gallery: 2012 Audi A6: Detroit 2011 [Source: Bloomberg]As Audi plants struggle to meet demand, buyers wait months for cars originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments