Fix Auto Las Vegas North

Audi's Historical Acceleration Debacle

Occasionally, a carmaker makes a mistake. When that mistake happens to be a huge one (remember the recent Takata airbag catastrophe?), suddenly the manufacturer is faced not only with bad press, but also with the dilemma of how best to handle it. At Fix Auto Las Vegas North, we remember Audi’s unintended acceleration disaster, another example of a serious misstep. Big in the news more than three decades ago, this incident brought many Audi drivers in Las Vegas, NV and the country to a frenzy.

Introduced in 1982, the Audi 5000 was a sporty, stylish sedan, and was instrumental in establishing Audi as a top-name luxury car manufacturer. On November 23 1986, CBS’s 60 minutes ran an “exposé” on the 5000, revealing a “defect” wherein the Audi would abruptly accelerate out of control. As "proof", the program showed footage of an unoccupied 5000 suddenly lurching forward on its own. What viewers weren’t able to see, however, was that the car had been modified by the TV crew; they achieved the desired effect by rigging an air compressor that forced the car into gear.

In the face of this crisis, Audi’s immediate strategy was aggressive. They strongly insisted that all the accidents involving the Audi 5000 were caused strictly by driver error, since nothing wrong could be found with the cars. In fact, tests in the U.S., Canada, and Japan all concluded that drivers had mistakenly confused the Audi’s narrow (and tightly spaced) gas and brake pedals, leading them to believe that their brakes were failing when they were just flooring the car. Audi knew they were the victims of bad journalism, and coldly fought tooth and nail against the accusations. At first glance this would seem like a rational claim, since technically the statement was true, but Audi’s insistence (which included a lawsuit that is still being fought today) and a misguided magazine ad did too much damage. The ad was comprised of a slightly condescending quiz, telling consumers “If you can pass this test… you’re ready for an Audi.”

After selling in excess of 75,000 cars in this country in 1985, sales slowed down to less than 12,000 cars in 1991. It would take Audi almost two full decades to return to its impressive pre-1986 American sales figures. Today, Audi is a high-end luxury brand, despite being right in the middle of a controversy that almost took them out of the American market forever, and we get to look back on the debacle in awe, and hopefully learn from their big mistakes.

Sources: Japolik and TIME