Site Visit: Audi Forum Park Avenue

We reported last week of Park Avenue opening of the Audi Forum. I’m still sore for not skipping out of the office to see the parade that morning. But we managed to bring back some photo’s of the space from over the weekend.

While the opening of the Audi’s largest Forum was delayed nearly six months, the new space was perfectly timed to debut the new R8 to the US. The car made a worldwide debut recently at the Paris auto show. Speaking of which, the Forum also opens at the beginning of the auto show season. And in fact the Park Ave. space functions more like a auto show stand than a dealership. It’s really there to preform brand building activities. Currently there are only four cars displayed in the space. and of those, one is the R8(not readily available) and the other is one of the legendary 1930’s Auto Union grand prix cars.

While Audi has added lots of techno bits to the space, there’s a moving LED panel that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, traveling back and forth between Park Avenue and 47th Street at a speed of two feet per second, it’s not a new idea to NYC. GM held a ‘showroom‘ on 5th Ave. for 25 years.

But with the popularity of auto shows spiking over the last decade, it’s clear that people like looking at cars, but hate going to the dealership to buy them. We may see a return to more unique formats for promoting auto brands in the next decade. The US is now nearly saturated with retail lifestyle centers and I find it odd that none of the auto brands have jumped at the opportunity to try opening a showroom adjacent to one. Dealers tend to get nervous about those kinds of plans as it is perceived to cut into their turf. But I give Audi credit for successfully finding a way to roll out the Forum model and stick with it.

The Forum expects to update the floor every month and will also hold special events in the future. The Auto Union car currently there will depart in a week or so back to Germany. So those in NYC who want to check it out, don’t sleep on it.

More photo’s for IF! subscribers here: