The three premium German automakers used to be famous around the world for their fast, well-built and luxurious saloon cars, but in recent years, that perception has been considerably altered by the addition of SUVs. Audi is very keen to expand its line of Q-badged vehicles, which is currently three models-strong (Q3, Q5 and Q7).
Helped by a projected increase in demand for such vehicles, the automaker from Ingolstadt will be adding at least three new Q-cars to their range, in an effort to surpass BMW as the no.1 luxury brand in the world, by 2020. By the same year, the range of SUVs and crossovers would account for between 33% and 40% – that’s around 800,000 vehicles of the two-million they plan to sell by the aforementioned year.
The market for such vehicles will also grow by 50 percent (17- to 18-million by 2020, from 12-million in 2012).
Audi’s plan is to add a Q2, Q4 and Q6, with the latter being touted as a direct rival to the BMW X6. The upcoming models will adopt a less utilitarian philosophy, and will concentrate more on being “emotional and very sporty,” according to Audi’s CEO Rupert Stadler.
However, for those who are not so keen on the idea of having even more SUVs on the roads of the future, we say don’t blame Audi for making them, and instead acknowledge that they are only developing vehicles which they know will sell – i.e. people will still use up more fuel than they need, especially in town, and if the ascending trend is kept up, a few more decades after 2020, they could realistically end up outnumbering regular cars.
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: Automotive News
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