Marketing Mishap: Audi A1 Flips Over During a Demonstration in Brussels

It seems Volvo isn’t the only automaker that’s had some troubles during live product demonstrations. An Audi professional driver managed to roll over a new 2011 A1 hatchback on a skateboard ramp in Brussels while trying to sell customers on its chassis tuning.

The German automaker is in the midst of a full-blown marketing campaign for the A1 in Europe. To demonstrate the car’s skateboard-like agility, the automaker decided to give passengers a ride in the car as it was driven up and down a quarter pipe ramp. Sounds neat? It was, until a professional driver managed to approach the ramp at a bad angle and flip the car on its side.

According to Belgian news sources, neither the driver nor passenger suffered more than minor cuts after the rollover. After securing the occupants, Audi’s event team pushed the car right-side-up, rolled it away and out of sight, and attempted to put the kibosh on photos taken of the event. Thanks to today’s camera-laden society, the latter wasn’t entirely accomplished.

It should be noted that this was a fluke — Audi’s professionals had been driving the A1 up and down the ramp nearly 1200 times before the car rolled. We’ve yet to receive confirmation, but we imagine marketing brass — and the driver — are turning the same shade of red as the car pictured here.

Source: Nieuwsblad.be