Anyone else do the Audi Mkt. Research interview?

[willyjp]

I've been travelling and away from computers a lot and so not in close touch with this forum, or a lot of others for that matter! So I may have missed a thread about this, though a quick search doesn't turn one up.

I "bit" on a mailed postcard "teaser" asking me if I was interested in a "Car Clinic." When I called the 800 # they said they were looking for owners of Audi R8s and Porsche Carreras.

The details were that they wanted to do a 2 hour interview @ the Hilton @ Orange Co. Airport. To my amazement they were willing to buy me a round trip ticket there and pick me up/drop me off from/to my flight!! Not only that but they were offering to compensate me $300 cash for a completed interview, and would have me back to my home airport in about 9 hours time!

They would only say that it was a "study" commissioned by "a Major Manufacturer," concerning "high end sports cars."

Well, I did it, and it was exactly as advertised. Had a very, very interesting in-depth interview with an extremely knowledgeable automobile expert who assured me he did NOT work for any auto maker but was just an interviewer hired to elicit my opinions.

We discussed virtually every car I have ever owned or driven for any significant amount of time. He was very interested in what was the basis for my interest in cars and in driving, and the history of it. (which took a lot of time, since I have been driving sports cars since 1958!!)

Then we talked at great length about my R8: why I bought it, what I thought about it, Audi, my dealer and all related topics. Eventually we got onto what problems or issues I might have, how I might like the car done differently and what I would enjoy seeing in the future development of Audi sports cars. We touched a bit on the competition, mainly Porsche, and the "whys" of my choice of Audi.

Going in, I had suspected somehow that this was a Japanese auto manufacturer, but the interview was, to the degree that it was focused on a particular marque, so focused on Audi, that I began to wonder! Also, I noticed a few German accents amongst the people around while I was waiting to go into the interview!

After it was all over, the lady clerking the event said without hesitation that, in fact, the company commissioning the interviews was indeed Audi, and that the material was intended to contribute to the development of future generations of the R8 and "other Audi sportscars."

I saw several R8s and Porsches in the parking lot when I came in, and there were a lot of others undergoing the same process, many seeming to be from the "local" area as they had driven themselves there.

So, I'm wondering, did any of you LA area R8 owners get involved in this?
What were your impressions?

The information flow was virtually 100% from me to the interviewer, but I could certainly tell, from some of the questions, what Audi is thinking about, and it's pretty much as you'd suspect: alternate fuels, diesel, electrics, hybrids, even the whole question of the correctness of "pleasure driving" in a world of limited resources.

It was an enjoyable process, and I was told that the entire video taped interview would undoubtedly be reviewed several times by "representatives of the Major Manufacturer." So I did sort of feel, afterward, that I had had a chance to say a few things directly to Audi, even though I wasn't sure who I was talking to at the time!

[desperado]

I received the card, but did not elect to participate. I thought it was going to be mostly a sales pitch, so didn't pay too much attention.

I wish I had, it would have been fun to meet you!

[willyjp]

I received the card, but did not elect to participate. I thought it was going to be mostly a sales pitch, so didn't pay too much attention.

I wish I had, it would have been fun to meet you!

Well, I was a little suspicious too...until I spoke with the guy on the phone, who absolutely assured me that there would be NO "selling" of anything, or even, in the case of this project, viewing of anything for sale (he said they do also do those "focus" groups where you view a car with its competition and then get interviewed about your opinions).

It may have been because I was being flown in and out on a tight schedule, but there was very little (none actually) opportunity to chat with anyone else doing the interview (which was strictly one-on-one), though I did see a handfull of other interviewees passing in the lobby area while I was enjoying a nice lunch they'd set out. Seemed to be the gamut of what R8 and Carrera owners would be (in Orange Co. anyway!): from old-car/old guy motorhead duffers like me to some very flashy and flambouyant boulevardiers, fully decked out for a summer afternoon at the So. Cal. coast!

Bet they got a WIDE range of opinions!!

[willyjp]

well, 67 looks and no replies from anyone else who did the interview....the topic is about to drop off the "active" list, so let me add just one thing;

since it seems like none of the "regulars" on this board perhaps did the interview, let me just add, before the topic dies, that I did mention, very clearly on 2 or 3 occasions in my videotaped interview that I thought "R8Talk" was an exceptional forum for a single marque/model....undoubtedly equalled or surpassed by only a few, if any, other single model forums (perhaps Corvette, Viper, etc., I don't know for sure)....and that it was very helpful to the R8 owner and a very rich source of information about what R8 owners were thinking about and doing with their cars;

so if anybody doubted if Audi was listening to us, well they should have at least one strong hint to do so in the future!

[SDR8]

I'm glad you had a good experience with this event. I know I have had other offers to go to survey events and have ignored them, because I either did not have time or felt like it was going to be a sales pitch. Perhaps I will reconsider future notices I receive.

Thanks for sharing.