Week 11 - Laura - Something that annoys you

Audi AG,

International Customer Service,

85045 Ingolstadt,

Germany

11/05/14

To whom it concerns,

You've been making the A4 model since 1994, and while I think you've really nailed it on most aspects I'm disappointed you still haven’t managed to perfect - or even drag up to a passing grade - its in-car cup holder. Would you perhaps consider extending some of your famous ‘vorsprung durch Technik’ to the matter?

The cup holder in the A4 is one of the most ineffective I've ever seen. Its arms are just too low, offering little to no support to any container with a centre of gravity that’s higher than that of a tea cup. 

Your Irish website - www.audi.ie - describes the interior of the Audi A4 as being of ‘top quality and functionality’ and says the model is not just a car, but ‘a mobile personality’.

Functionality claims aside for the moment, ff that’s the case then my car’s cup holder is a particularly vindictive part of my car's personality.

Just this morning it launched half of my super healthy green smoothie out of its container and let it dribble down next to the gearstick and handbrake as well as onto the passenger seat...just because I’d driven round a slight bend. I'm not sure what effect it will have on the coke that went the same way last week.

The UK Carbuyer Guide suggests that the A4 ‘could be more fun’. It certainly could have been yesterday morning anyway.

Figures from last month show that Audi is the tenth most popular car brand in Ireland after VW, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Skoda, Renault, Kia, Nissan and Opel. The A4 is the country’s 19th most popular model of car.

Clearly the terrible cup holder is holding the A4 back, and I can’t but think that by rectifying the matter the otherwise very attractive model might gain a few more points in the popularity stakes.

Please give this issue the attention it deserves. I will look forward to a progress report regarding advances in the area in due course.

Warmest regards,

Laura