Audi gives itself more time, pledges to be No. 1 global luxury brand by 2020

Each member of the Teutonic triumvirate – BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz – is battling to be the world's Number One luxury maker. BMW has won the title for the past seven years running, but Audi CEO Rupert Stadler (shown above) has told Reuters that as of "2020 at the latest" his company will overtake BMW. That sounds quite soon, but it's actually a less aggressive target date than it once was: Stadler had previously planned on 2015 being the year when Audi sold more cars than its German foes, and although its sales trend and profits are strong, overall weakness in the market has put some flexibility into that date.

There's also the issue of Mercedes, since it has the very same plan: At the beginning of this year Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said his company would be Number One by 2020 with a predicted annual sales of 2.7 million cars. Backing him up, Germany's Center for Automotive Research says Mercedes – which dropped to third last year – could move back to number two by 2015, ahead of Audi but still behind BMW. Audi had targeted 1.5 million sales for 2015 and might reach that milestone sooner, but that number – which is less than CAR's prediction of Audi sales in 2015 – would still leave it in third.

The strategies of all three include more vehicles in more segments, such as BMW with its UKL platform plans and Mercedes with its A- and B-Class variants and AMG portfolio expansion, and BMW has tied up with Toyota while Mercedes is dancing with Nissan. Audi is going it alone, if being part of the Volkswagen empire can be called "alone," and its efforts include new crossover models like the Q2 and Q6, though plans for a North American factory are still swirling.

That's a lot of punches being thrown; in 2020, we'll know whose punches hit hardest with buyers.

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Decrease in off-lease returns curbs brand loyalty

Leases mean brand loyalty. Brand loyalty means more car and truck sales: That's the gist of an Automotive News article that points out fewer people are leasing vehicles, meaning fewer people are being loyal to any particular brand.

That's one reason why car makers around the country want to rebuild their lease programs, which were severely hampered during the 2008 financial crisis. In some cases, car makers ended their leasing programs entirely. That customer base for some dealers has disappeared because leases were not being offered a few years ago.

According to Automotive News, people who lease vehicles return to another lease with the same brand 63 percent of the time. People who bought their previous vehicle, only return to the same brand to buy a vehicle 39 percent of the time.

Leases are easy, typically put people into a car they otherwise could not afford and turn cars over for manufacturers more than buying customers. And some brands lean heavily on leases, such as BMW and Mercedes.

Two out of every three BMW's sold this year in the U.S. were actually leased and 76 percent of Mercedes' volume in the U.S. this year has been through leasing. Meanwhile, mainstream brands tend to have lower lease rates and lower loyalty rates. The industry average for leases is around 24 percent, according to Experian Automotive.

While the formula to determine leases is complex, many companies see the return to leasing as a way to build brand loyalty, turn over more cars and squeeze out additional market share in a hyper-competitive market.

Of course, that's what they thought prior to 2008 as well.

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