SEATTLE -- Audi of America's director of product planning, Barry Hoch, has a slew of new vehicles coming to market over the next 18 months, but he contends the German luxury brand still has lucrative "white space" to push into to further grow its sales in the United States.
"For us, obviously, one request from this side of the ocean is to have an even bigger SUV," such as a Mercedes GLS competitor, said Hoch.
"That's pure white space that's out there for us," Hoch said. "From an American perspective, that's one we are pushing to get, and I think we're getting some traction."
Hoch and Audi are in the midst of an aggressive product introduction cycle that started last year and will see almost all of the brand's lineup refreshed or redesigned by the end of 2018. That includes the launch this spring of the A5 and S5 Sportbacks, which were shown to journalists here last week, and ultimately will touch 14 models over an 18-month period. The lineup refresh comes as Audi basks in the glow of 77 consecutive months of record sales in the U.S. and has more than doubled its U.S. sales since 2010, when it first topped 100,000 vehicles annually.