The Future of Audi’s Electric Cars in Part 1
Considering all the turbulence that plagued the Chinese and German markets in 2019, a 1.8 percent year-on-year increase in global deliveries was a notable result for Audi. While a large percentage of those 1,845,550 vehicles were SUVs, cars – particularly the A4 L – were particularly popular in China, the brand’s most important market. And the most important new model of 2020 will be a car, with the new A3 about to arrive.
“After a mixed first half of the year, we successfully made up ground in the second half,” Hildegard Wortmann, the company’s head of sales and marketing, said recently. “Although the demands on us will remain high in 2020, we have set the course for further growth,” she added.
Even after a record year for the brand in China, further growth in global sales will be a tough task given the impact of the coronavirus on that market by the time first-quarter figures come in.
Cars
The second generation A1 Sportback came onto the market in the fourth quarter of 2018. At 4,029 mm long, the five-door hatchback remains Audi’s smallest car. It was joined in October last year by the A1 citycarver, a model that was an experiment to see how much demand there might be for a more expensive variant distinguished by a slightly higher ride height. Both will receive a mid-cycle facelift in 2022, with the next generation expected in late 2025.
The next A3 Sportback (five-door) will go on sale later this year after making its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. There will be a new A3 sedan. There will be no replacements for the A3 (three-door) and A3 Cabriolet due to cost-cutting and slow sales of the current cars. There could be an A3 citycarver, however, which could be called the A3 Sportback Coupé instead. All derivatives will use the MQB A/B Evo architecture and share powertrains with the eighth-generation Golf.
The A4 has done well to maintain strong sales despite strong competition from the newer BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, and in some countries the Tesla Model 3. Audi has already given both models a facelift A4 And S4 twice since 2015. The first was a minor update in 2018, with a more extensive facelift announced in May 2019. There will now be no more than minor powertrain updates until the next-generation series goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2022. China’s extended wheelbase A4 format will follow in 2023.
The A5 Coupé And S5 Coupe date back to 2016 and were facelifted in 2019, so these cars still have three to four years left in their production cycle. The same goes for the A5 Sportback and S5 Sportback. A second, minor facelift could come in 2022.
Audi will soon have built the current shape A6 for two years, meaning a facelift will take place in the fourth quarter of 2021. The large sedan and wagon share the same MLB Evo platform as the A4 and A7 Sportback. China’s extended wheelbase (3024 mm) A6L premiered at the Guangzhou Motor Show in November 2018 and went on sale in China two months later. Next-generation sedans and estates are expected in 2025.
The last S6Announced in April 2019, the S6 continues the tradition of losing two cylinders with each new generation, with the V8 being replaced by a V6. There’s a twist, though: the 4.0-liter V8 of the predecessor has been replaced by two engine choices: a supercharged 2.9-liter gasoline engine or a 3.0-liter diesel, each with 48V electrics. The 2.9 TFSI is primarily aimed at Asia, North America and the Middle East, while the TDI is primarily aimed at European markets. The gasoline-powered S6 is rated at 331 kW (450 hp) and 600 Nm (442.5 lb-ft) of torque, while the diesel equivalents are 257 kW (349 hp) and 700 Nm (516.3 lb-ft).
The S6 and S6 Avant (there is no S6 L) share the same life cycle as the A6, so their successors should launch in the first half of 2025. Could they even be powered by a four-cylinder engine? That’s certainly possible, in which case the line would have transitioned from I5, to V8, to V10, to V6, and then I4 engines over several generations.
The second generation A7 Sportbackreleased in 2018, is again a five-door hatchback version of the A6. As for the S7 SportbackThere are two powertrain choices, like the S6. There is also a A7 plug-in hybrid which is called the 55 TFSI e quattro.
Audi is expected to facelift the A7 and S7 in the second half of 2021. However, a third generation is far from certain: the current A7 could instead be phased out of production as early as or even before 2025 if buyers in Europe turn away from combustion-engined cars of this size in favor of electric vehicles.
See the PLDB link at the end of this report for the RS6 And RS7. Details of the life cycles of the A8 And S8 can also be found in PLDB (see link below).
Electric cars
Audi can a A2 e-tron later in the 2020s if it sees profit potential in a 4.2m long all-electric hatchback. For now, however, the company has other priorities and the A2 name remains dormant. For other reasons, an electric car in the C-segment is also not on the cards. If high-margin versions of the new ID.3 prove to be big moneymakers for Volkswagen, then it is likely that Audi will also enter this segment with an electric car the size of an A3.
Surprisingly few details are known about what is rumored to be a car that will take on the Tesla Model 3. D-segment e-trona sedan and/or hatchback, is expected to be 4.6-4.8 m long and based on the PPE architecture instead of MEB. Sales start is likely in 2023. Audi may come up with a new name for this model, as it did when it launched the original TT.
Much sooner than the 4.7-meter-long electric sedan, the larger e-tron GT. This 16-foot-long electric hatchback was shown in concept form at the LA Auto Show in November 2018. Audi says the production version will be available in dealerships from early 2021. In July 2019, it was confirmed that the car would be produced alongside the R8 at Audi Sport GmbH’s Böllinger Höfe production facilities “starting in late 2020.”
The e-tron GT may also be available in S and RS trims. The production model is expected to be unveiled at this year’s LA Auto Show in November.
The potential business case for a third generation R8 is still being researched. If this car goes ahead, production probably won’t start until 2023. The R8 Mark 3 could even be a battery-electric vehicle. Audi is rumored to be working with Rimac on this project. On the other hand, the e-tron GT will be produced in the same factory as the current R8, will likely be priced around the same, and even if demand is only a few thousand per year, it would be an improvement over the R8. So the e-tron GT could effectively replace the V10-powered supercar, which may end production in 2021 or 2022.
The model name of R9 or R10 has been proposed for a potential hypercar. Production in the hundreds per year would take place in Germany at Audi Böllinger Höfe near Neckarsulm. Such a car is probably still a long way off, mid-decade.
Reports on upcoming models from many other manufacturers are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Intelligence of future product programs
More details about past, current and future models can be found in PLDB. That includes the Audi cars not discussed in the above report.
This was the third article in a series examining current and future models from Volkswagen AG’s passenger car brands. The first article looked at Volkswagen’s global vehicle lineup, including future electric vehicles, while the second article examined the VW brand’s SUVs, crossovers and pickups. The next article focuses on Audi’s SUVs, including electric ones.
“Audi Future Models – Part 1” was originally created and published by Just Cara brand of GlobalData.
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