Audi is also planning small electric cars

VW subsidiary Audi will electrify all core segments by 2027, according to Oliver Hoffmann, a member of the board of management responsible for development. According to statements made by the manager in an interview, this also includes battery-electric premium small cars.

“We will electrify all core segments by 2027,” Hoffmann told the German publication Automobilwoche. “This also includes the A-segment, where we clearly see the need for premium vehicles in the future.” That being said, Hoffmann still did not announce any concrete models. A production model in the A-segment would be a novelty for Audi: even the MQB-based Audi A1 is more in the B-segment. Only in December last year, Audi revealed that it aims to invest 18 billion euros in electrification alone from 2022 to 2026.

Hoffmann confirmed the decision that there would be no direct successors to the A1 and the small SUV Q2 but did not comment further on the small car plans. However, in view of the group’s logic, it seems obvious that the new model will not be an Audi stand-alone but will probably be based on the VW ID.2 – the ID. Life study presented by VW at the IAA 2021. It is likely to take some time before the VW is ready for series production. Until now, it had been assumed that the ID.2 would be a Seat/Cupra offshoot, but Audi’s involvement could make it more economical.

In the short term, however, Audi is working on a larger e-series. According to Hoffmann, demand for the Q4 e-tron and the e-tron GT is high, and Audi is hoping for a further boost from models on the PPE platform. From 2023, the Q6 e-tron e-SUV will be built in Ingolstadt, and in the same year the A6 e-tron will go into production as an electric sedan. This will be followed in 2024 by the A6 Avant e-tron, whose near-production study was presented last week. Audi has “nothing to hide” from the competition from BMW and Mercedes, some of which are already entering the market with models such as the EQE.

Audi boss Markus Duesmann unveiled the electric estate during the annual press conference. “The Audi A6 Avant e-tron concept embodies the dynamics and elegance of the future electric luxury class at Audi,” said Duesmann. “With the production model set for launch at a later date, we are expanding our e-model portfolio in one of our core segments.” When asked directly, Hoffmann also confirmed that Audi would continue to focus on the classic estate car, while Mercedes probably has no such EQE_based model planned. “Beautiful station wagons are called Avant; that will also be the case in the electric world,” Hoffmann said. “The Avant models are important volume models for Audi.”

An important sales market for the PPE models will be China. “The Audi FAW NEV Company plays a central role in our electrification strategy in China,” Duesmann said. Audi reportedly completed the planning and approval phase in February. Further details on the planned models were not yet available.

When it comes to electric development, Audi wants to tie Bentley and Lamborghini more closely to it within the VW Group’s premium brand group. “Lamborghini and Bentley clearly stand to benefit from Audi in the transition to e-mobility: these brands would struggle to make the huge investments on their own,” said Duesmann.

While there is no further word on the first all-electric Lamborghini, it is clear that the first electric Bentley will be the offshoot of the Artemis project – with body production in Hanover and final assembly in Crewe, Germany. “The first vehicle from the Artemis project will certainly be a beacon for us from 2025 onwards,” Hoffmann says of the equivalent Audi saloon. “It will be consistently developed from the inside out and show the design language of the future.”

Reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany

automobilwoche.de (Hoffmann-interview, in German), audi-mediacenter.com (key statements Duesmann)