Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Lee Wolstenholme's blog: 18 April - Russian doll car design: off-putting or appealing to business drivers?
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Lee Wolstenholme's blog: 18 April - Russian doll car design: off-putting or appealing to business drivers?

Date: 18 April 2016

Even the most ardent 'petrol-heads' I know occasionally admit to struggling to tell the difference between various marques' models from a distance.

Audi could be accused of starting the trend, the A4 from 2008, A5, A6 from 2012 and even Ingolstadt's flagship third generation A8 that launched in 2010 unarguably look very similar. The third generation A3 saloon's arrival in 2013 cemented Audi's saloon lineup as the most homogenous out there.

Such a design ethos hasn't had an adverse effect on the brand's rampant popularity, though. They sold 1.74 million cars worldwide in 2014, a 10.5% increase over the previous year, whilst 2015 was the firm's fifth record-breaking year on the trot, Audi UK shifting 5% more vehicles year-on-year.

More recently, Mercedes-Benz has of late embraced Russian doll car design even more closely, the latest C-class, E-class and S-class aesthetically almost indistinguishable to the untrained eye. Some voices deem such a philosophy as lazy, but Mercedes' dominance in the business leasing sector only goes to vindicate the tactic.

User-choosers and other company car drivers from all rungs of the corporate latter typically gravitate towards the most prestigious vehicles accessible to them via their employers' various schemes and policies.

Account managers who formerly envied the S-class that their chief executive gets chauffeured around in are now able to drive a car that is visually incredibly similar if they were to choose an E-class or even a C-class. Aspiring Audi A8 drivers can likewise feel largely appeased by choosing an A6, A4 or A3 saloon. After all, quality permeates all of Audi's offerings no matter how large or small. And the new Mercedes E Class has rewritten the rulebook when it comes to interior luxury. Smaller choices are also more financially and environmentally efficient.

Lex Autolease's Report on Company Motoring 2015 highlighted that 45% of the 1,041 drivers surveyed felt that 'having a company car is a mark of achievement', whilst 64% stated that a car is an important determining factor in accepting a new job or not. Such employees are likely delighted by homogenised design, although it may have the opposite effect at the other end of the spectrum, CEOs ruing their flagship cars looking so similar to those driven by other staff.



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