The Audi Guy Drives a BYD

Somewhere in Germany, there is an executive at Audi who drives a BYD to work every day.

I heard that standing in a monastery courtyard in Tuscany, from a man on his honeymoon, about ten feet from a 2007 Audi with more than 200,000 kilometers on it.

I landed in Rome on Friday, September 4. A week in Italy with friends I studied with there in 2020, the first time back as a group. Three days in Rome, three days in Cortona.

I did not expect to spend the week talking about cars. I ended up having the same conversation three times, with three different sets of strangers, in two countries, and none of it was my idea.

In Tuscany we stayed at Monastero San Silvestro. Exceptionally remote, exceptionally beautiful, and hot. We were also the only people there who did not rent a car. We walked the price on that one.

Despite our car struggles, we rented Vespas in town and drove through the hills. That was a dream.

That is how we met the couple from Hamburg. They were on their honeymoon, and they wanted to talk about US politics first. You can use your imagination.

They had driven to Cortona from Hamburg in that 2007 Audi. Once we met them, and their puppy Leo, they started driving us around. So the newlyweds spent their honeymoon traveling with a puppy and, for a few days, three adopted sons from the United States.

Eventually they asked about Chinese cars. How popular they have become in Europe, and in Germany specifically. It is one thing to read that. It is another to hear it from someone who lives there.

We talked about the autobahn. We talked about favorite German engineering. I told them that in the US, German engineering is still considered the cream of the crop.

Then they mentioned their friend at Audi.

He drives a BYD to work every day.

Which is a little like finding out Jim Farley keeps a Mitsubishi for weekends.

Then they asked me about it, like I had a plan.

The only thing I had was that it is just a matter of time.

Back in Rome on Wednesday night, we had dinner with a local government employee, a friend of a friend of a friend. More politics, and more cars. I perked up each time.

Affordability was the driver. Ha.

We talked about how popular Smart cars are over there. Although who even knows where the engine is on that car.

Probably ideal for a city like Rome. Less ideal for the autobahn.

What they are seeing in Germany, they are seeing in Italy.

Our last night in Rome, at Almalu in Trastevere. The best bar in the city, and I will take that argument.

Another German couple. No connection to the first. Four days apart, two hundred miles apart, and we got to the same place.

It started as cost of living. Germany versus the US. Salaries, insurance, taxes.

And finally cars.

We compared our lives. Same age, both working good jobs, thousands of miles apart. Same struggles.

How can we afford our cars?

Then they asked me too. Same as Tuscany.

Three conversations. Two countries. Strangers who have never met each other and never will.

Same worry every time. And every time, at some point, they turned to me. The American. The one who writes about cars. Like I had a plan.

Three times I said the same thing. It is just a matter of time.

After the third exact same conversation with a stranger in Italy, maybe a matter of time is closer than we think.

And that 2007 Audi is the perfect example of it. The car still runs great. But if they had to replace it tomorrow, the only new car they could actually afford would be Chinese built.

So they are holding off.

Two hundred thousand kilometers is about 124,000 miles. Over here, that is right about when we start looking for something new.

I still cannot imagine not driving an Audi if I were given the opportunity.

But the affordability crisis is not an American story. I have spent all summer writing about a $24,950 truck with no touchscreen and a $30,000 Ford that had to reinvent the factory to hit its price. It turns out the same conversation is happening in a monastery in Tuscany, at a dinner table in Rome, and in a bar in Trastevere, in cars with 200,000 kilometers on them that nobody can afford to replace.

In the US we are still arguing about how long we can hold the door shut. Everywhere else, they are already inside.

So here is the real question.

Will China control the affordability market?

Or do they already?

Windows down.

What's the oldest car in your driveway, and what would it cost you to replace it? Write me: jp@bauerdrive.com