EU pricing?!

[MSF21]

I bought my wife a Q7 from Tetbury, but we are now currently living in France and interested in the RS4
The base RRP in France is €93.000 which is £81k
I managed to option one to almost £95k - madness.........

[RS Owner]

it must be the GBP EUR exchange rate because I thought we paid more in rip off Britain.

I think some French go to Belgium to buy their cars.

[kmpowell]

TBH currency comparison is largely meaningless.

GBP/EUR rates fluctuate, particularly at the moment, so because something is cheaper in one country the cost of living will largely be relative to that cost. If it it more expensive (as per your example) in another country then again the cost will be relative. I work for a French company, and I know their salaries are much higher than their UK counterparts, therefore their cost of living is relative.

If the GBP/EUR rate moved significantly tomorrow in favour of the GBP, the French don't suddenly get a pay rise to compensate, it's still the same cost for them. It only really makes a difference to the GBP currency conversion, which as I said is largely meaningless unless you are buying in one currency to live in another country where the comparative car will be cheaper etc.

[RS Owner]

I work for a French company, and I know their salaries are much higher then their UK counterparts

Also they don't work as hard and surrender a lot quicker.

[MSF21]

If it it more expensive (as per your example) in another country then again the cost will be relative.

Even a basic rule of understanding of economics shows thats not correct.
Besides, housing in France is cheaper than UK - so cost of living is lower. But with cars, cost of living is higher?
And it does not explain why an RS4 in Germany has a base of €80k, €13k less than France
You are not seriously saying France has a higher standard of living than Germany?

Could a simpler answer just be the Audi France are taking the piss?

[kmpowell]

Could a simpler answer just be the Audi France are taking the piss?

No, it comes down to volumes sold and economic costs. It's cheaper to buy an Audi in Germany because they sell more then they do France, and the cost of living is lower, look at the cost of food in Germany, it's much cheaper.

The answer to your questions is several fold, but it's mainly driven by economic reasons.

• Local Pricing, taxes and cost of living
  Supply and Demand
  Competition
  Home market/brand

[Graeme4130]

I work for a French company, and I know their salaries are much higher then their UK counterparts

Also they don't work as hard and surrender a lot quicker.

But they do get some very cool government directive on the amount of hours they can work.
I used to deal with Michelin France, and their sales director would basically finish his working year late October to account for the amount of none standard working hours he'd do during the rest of the year.