AUDI TARGETS BMW, MERCEDES-BENZ IN US

The United States has a new king of the premium segment in BMW. It’s the first time the Bavarians have been atop this important market, having gotten there through some serious wrestling against fellow Germans Mercedes-Benz. And the big loser in this little battle was Lexus.

And now Audi wants a piece of that American apple pie. The third German is now considering adding more models into its lineup this year in order to catch up with the other two. Ingolstadt sold less than half of that both BMW and Merc sold in 2011, so they do have their work cut out for them. Nevertheless there is confidence it can be done, especially since it wants to be number one by 2015. Already it has overtaken Mercedes-Benz for the second spot and is now targeting BMW.

A major part of the strategy is to introduce smaller, sedan-type vehicles as well as SUVs. The US is primarily a sedan and SUV market. Growth is currently in the small-car sector where Audi plans on selling cars like the A3 sedan, Q3 and others.