Audi's Experience Could Foreshadow Toyota's Troubles Ahead

&&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_START&&&&& {“id”:1420668668267,”originalName”:”2015_03_04_17_01_19_578_http___blogs_cars_com__a_6a00d83451b3c669e20120a86060b3970b_800wi”,”name”:”MMS ID 47554 (created by CM Utility)”,”URI”:”/16/-134804149-1425510080016.”,”createDate”:”2015-03-04 05:01:20″,”metadata”:{“AUTHOR”:”automatic-content-migration”,”KEYWORDS”:””},”href”:”https://www.cstatic-images.com/stock/1170×1170/16/-134804149-1425510080016.”,”description”:”Came from http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e20120a86060b3970b-800wi”,”externalid”:”47554″,”updatedby”:”cmuadmin”,”updateddate”:1425511437366,”associations”:{}} &&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_END&&&&&

As Toyota looks at the difficult path that lies ahead, it probably does not like what it sees in the example set by Audi. In the ‘80s, Volkswagen’s luxury brand ran afoul of consumers due to similar issues of sudden acceleration in its 5000 sedan.

After the Center for Auto Safety linked that vehicle to six deaths and roughly 700 accidents, a string of recalls began, lasting from 1982 to 1987 and eventually leading to a class-action lawsuit that remains unresolved to this day.

The result in Audi’s sales was more or less catastrophic. After reaching a peak of 74,061 units sold in the U.S. in 1985, sales plummeted to 12,283 by 1991 — an 83% drop. It took Audi 15 years to rebuild its brand name, finally topping sales of 80,000 vehicles by 2000. It only managed to do so six years after launching a turnaround strategy that introduced new A4 and A8 models and reorganizing its distribution networks.

Of course, Toyota is hardly the same kind of brand that Audi was in the ‘80s. In fact, the situation may be even more dire for the Japanese automaker. Audi was a luxury brand trying to make small inroads in a small, exclusive market, whereas Toyota made up 17% of all cars sold in the U.S. last year. The brand also built its name on quality and reliability — an association that may take a long time to win back after recalling nearly 8 million vehicles (possibly more, given the Prius brake issues).

Audi 1980s Scare May Mean Lost Generation for Toyota (Business Week)