The German holy trinity is competing on branding
The holy trinity of German engineering, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi used to compete on engineering. These days though...
It feels like they are competing on who can remind you which brand you are sitting in the most.
It used to be simple back in the day. A logo on the bonnet, a logo on the boot along with a model number, a logo on the steering wheel, and maybe if you go a little fancy, an integrated key fob with a logo on it.
Nowadays, though, there's a logo everywhere you see on the interior and the exterior. Seats, dashboard, infotainment, you name it! Some of the keys have become a pieces of jewelry themselves!
BMW's kidneys for example, have seen so many changes in the past few years, its not even funny. Today, the grilles have become some billboard-like structures and the angel eyes turned into snake eyes (I could excuse this in the name of evolution, but only if done right?).
Mercedes, I believe is the king of this "shout the brand" segment. Their latest AMG 4 Door Coupe has tri-stars in the headlights, the taillights, and I believe their latest S-Class has tri stars in the lights, grille, and illuminated tri star on the bonnet as an additional extra.
Speaking of illuminated and light shows, Audi I think is a tiny touch better, only and only because they are still giving us the combustion engines. Jokes aside, their latest Q7 follows the same pattern. Illuminate everything that feels and screams Audi. Their matrix lights can do some quirky light shows and their grille is filled with signature Audi design elements.
Honestly, though, here's why I find this interesting. When you really think about it, many of the features that once felt exclusive to premium/luxury cars, have steadily moved down-market. All the "feel-good" things like DRLs, sun and moon roofs, seat ventilation, LED lights, ambient lighting, glowing logos, startup chimes, and more. Now, I'm not commenting on the quality of these, just the implementation.
Also, this is not coming from a place of criticism, just observation and thought that if this perceived luxury gap keeps shrinking, what else will the big players hold on to?
Maybe that's the reason why they are doubling down on logos and touchpoints everywhere? Every surface becomes an ad, and the product they manufacture, the automobile, is the biggest surface that they sell. Also, because attention is the one thing nobody can mass produce.
Now for the fun part. What's next in this battle of who shouts louder? Will the car greet you by your name when you get in? Something like, "Good morning, Visisht. Thank you for choosing Audi"? Or will it announce itself to the valet outside the restaurant, "An Audi has arrived"? Haha!