It’s like someone’s playing limbo with their SUV lineup.
German luxury carmaker Audi, already reaping the rewards of its 4-pronged SUV strategy, wants to branch further downwards and offer something more compact and more sharply priced than its present entry-level SUV, the Q2. This new car may not yet have been greenlight at the time of writing, but it’s so close to being OK-ed for production. So very close.
The new Q1 will be built on the same underpinnings as the next-generation A1 supermini, which is a strong seller for Audi in Europe with an annual sales average of just under 100k. Adding a crossover body to that already-profitable recipe can only bode well for Audi’s bottom line, and that sentiment was echoed by the company’s sales & marketing chief in an interview with AutoExpress.
“You cannot ignore the SUV trend. The question is, how wide and how deep to we make the SUV programme? Depending on the business opportunities, we decide on the future product portfolio. But don’t be surprised if in two, three years time to you do see [the Q1], as we try to react to markets quickly.” — Bram Schot, Management Boardmember (Sales & Marketing), Audi AG
For the Q1, it’s likely that motivation will come from Audi’s existing range of turbocharged 3- and 4-cylinder motors, with petrol and diesel options, though a mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid systems could also find their way into the list too. Ingolstadt’s SUV offensive isn’t limited with the Q1 either, with a larger, flagship Q8 due to grace the luxury-SUV scene by the end of the year, as well as an all-new Q4 which… will cannibalise sales from either the Q3 or the Q5, in our minds.
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