Audi will add entry EV in big product push, CEO Duesmann says

Audi will launch an entry level full-electric car below the Q4 E-Tron compact SUV, as the brand prepares to launch 20 new models by 2025 to match product pushes by rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

CEO Markus Duesmann announced the EV at Audi’s annual news conference on Thursday. Duesmann declined to provide details of the vehicle or its planned launch date. He said more details will be revealed in the coming months.

Audi parent, Volkswagen Group, is developing a new family of small EVs for the VW, Skoda and Cupra brands that will be underpinned by a shortened version of VW Group's MEB electric platform. On Wednesday VW brand unveiled its concept for the first of those models, the ID 2all small electric hatchback.

Audi's EV could use VW Group's more advanced SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) electric architecture that will underpin software-focused upmarket EVs in VW Group, according to motoring press reports.

The first model in Audi’s product offensive will be the Q6 e-tron midsize electric SUV, which will debut the VW Group’s PPE (premium platform electric) architecture, which Audi developed together with Porsche. The next-generation Porsche Macan will also be on the PPE platform.

The Q6 e-tron will have an 800-volt electric system, as does the e-tron GT, which allows for shorter charging times. It will be available in Sportback and more conventional SUV variants; prototypes are now undergoing testing and the model will be revealed without camouflage this summer, Duesmann said.

A critical year will be 2024, when Audi will launch more than 10 new models and upgrades, including cars on the new PPC (premium platform combustion) architecture. Those cars include the next generation A4 compact and A6 midsize models – and will be the last new internal-combustion generation as Audi becomes an electric-only brand by the early 2030s.

By 2027, he said, Audi will have about 20 full-electric models in its lineup, with an EV in every main segment.

The new A4 and A6 “will be contributing to the success of our company for years to come, but the road is clearly heading toward 100 percent electric,” Duesmann said. 

Audi was an early mover in premium EVs with the E-tron SUV, which was launched in 2019 (an upgraded model has been renamed the Q8 e-tron), but in recent years Mercedes-Benz and BMW have expanded their electric lineups to include large and flagship sedans, including the Mercedes EQE and EQS and the BMW i7 and i5 (launching later this year). Audi does not yet have a full-electric A8, and an electric A6 is not due until 2024.

Audi barely outsold Mercedes in global EV sales in 2022, 118,196 to 117,800, but both brands trailed BMW, which moved 172,011 EVs last year. But while BMW’s EV sales grew by 148 percent, and Mercedes’ roughly doubled, Audi’s full-electric sales grew by just 45 percent. 

Audi has not offered details on most of the new models planned until 2027, but it has unveiled four “Sphere” concepts that hint at future shapes and technical possibilities.

• In January the automaker showed the Activesphere, a 4,980 mm-long self-driving sportback crossover that can be transformed into a pickup and rides on 22-inch wheels. It is designed to ride on the PPE platform, and would have a range of 600 km (373 miles).
• The Urbansphere, shown in April 2022, has a more conventional four-door hatchback shape, and was developed for the Chinese market.
• The Grandsphere, a large luxury sedan with rear-hinged back doors, was shown in September 2021. It is designed for fully autonomous driving.
• The Skysphere is a roadster concept with an automatically adjustable wheelbase that can shorten by 10 inches to create a “dual personality” driving experience, between self-driving and driver-controlled models. It was shown in August 2021.

One segment that is not likely to appear in future Audi lineups is the small hatchback, where Audi sells the A1 model, which is built on the VW Group’s MQB platform. Duesmann confirmed that a successor is not planned to the current generation, which was launched in 2018. Earlier, he cited increasing compliance costs for small internal-combustion engine vehicles as a factor in the decision.

"We haven't planned a direct successor for it because we have to tighten our model range and make it leaner," he said Thursday. "We are clearly positioning ourselves as an all-electric premium brand."