Audi 2009 Annual Report Download - page 51

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ket after another with new line exten-
sions and fashion brands. Market
bubbles formed and “luxury came to
be equated with glamour. That’s why
products could be sold which were
unworthy of the term,” explains
Andrea Perrone.
Naturally, Brioni was courted as well.
Yet the families which own the com-
pany rejected every purchase offer.
“This genuineness is our strength to-
day,” says Perrone. “We produce for
people who have money and enjoy
spending it, yet increasingly want to
know what they’re truly getting in
return – which quality, which values,
which pledge,” explains Brioni’s head.
“Luxury, in our eyes, means unique-
ness and exclusiveness.” Rupert
Stadler nods. “Automotive manufac-
turers, and especially those in the
premium segment, are under tremen-
matter of efficiency. Customers still
want pleasure, innovation and per-
formance, but without social injustice
or the emission of pollutants. Both
companies and brands manage to
grow and thrive under these circum-
stances. And they succeed at reinter-
preting and redefining that which
today constitutes performance,
leadership and luxury.
In the past 30 years, the industry
which Brioni calls home experienced
astronomical rates of growth and
amazing profit margins. While the
newly wealthy in the Far and Middle
East purchased handbags, shoes,
suits and accessories made in Europe
with increasing enthusiasm, hedge
funds and corporations first gobbled
up those same companies before
expanding production and sales chan-
nels to conquer one new global mar-
dous pressure to act. From competi-
tors and lawmakers, but also from
customers who have high expecta-
tions of our brand with regard to in-
novations and social responsibility.
Because that is precisely what a dri-
ver of a brand of vehicle hopes to
identify with.”
To make the situation even more
complex, doing business globally en-
tails defining luxury in different ways.
“Luxury is perceived entirely differ-
ently in Europe than in, for example,
China, where people are proud of
their success and want others to see
it,” describes Stadler. Andrea Perrone
agrees. China and Southwest Asia are
top-priority growth markets for
Brioni, as well. “We have shops in
Baku in Azerbaijan and Almaty in 
“
We no longer speak of luxury at Brioni, but rather
excellence. Excellence focuses inward.”
Andrea Perrone, CEO of Brioni
One-of-a-kind items: even the new
collection of umbrellas by Brioni is
handmade.
Modern classics: showroom for VIP
customers at company headquarters.
Tour: Andrea Perrone accompanies the
Audi boss to the showrooms.