Rupert Stadler, Thomas Weber.

“The time has not yet come for a purely electric car. Without sufficient infrastructure, plug-in hybrids like our A3 e-tron are currently the best solution.”

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler once more sells the plug-in hybrid as the best EV concept under current conditions. Nonetheless, he added that Audi would be able to issue a fully electric car at any time.
autogazette.de (in German)

“Without a breakthrough of the plug-in hybrid, the targets will be impossible to meet. We are therefore working hard to establish the technology as soon as possible.”

Thomas Weber, head of development at Daimler, also is a fan of hybrids and is here hinting at the EU’s CO2 emission limits. For him, these can only be met with partial electrification as down sizing is not really an option for Mercedes.
spiegel.de (in German)