A new report says that Audi is going to launch an all-electric 4×4 SUV meant to rival the Land Rover Defender and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The boxy SUV would ride on the same ladder platform destined for the upcoming revival of the Scout brand.
According to Autocar, the top brass at Audi is close to greenlighting the plan outlined above and it’s completely separate from the Activesphere concept. Audi’s head of design Marc Lichte says that the new SUV wouldn’t ride on the PPE platform used between Porsche and Audi nor would it leverage the Ford Ranger chassis set to end up incorporated in a future VW SUV.
The vehicle could be on track for production by 2027, which removes the possibility that it would use the upcoming SSP platform. That leaves the Scout EVs ladder chassis, which makes a lot of sense for a car of this nature and intention as the Scout is already set to be an off-road-focused SUV.
More: Audi Activesphere Concept Is A Sleek Coupe-Crossover That Transforms Into A Pickup
And as Autocar points out, VW is rumored to be considering Magna, a Canadian components company (that already builds the G-Class in Austria) for the contract to build Scout vehicles. Audi is actually already working with Magna regarding battery technology.
Why jump into this segment where Land Rover and Mercedes have dominated for so long? Lichte had an answer for that.
“If you think about the history of Audi – the rallying success in the ’80s with the Quattro and Sport Quattro – it’s easy to explain why Audi needs a car like this. And if we talk about Quattro 2.0, it matches even more. I think there is space” for a rugged SUV in Audi’s passenger car line-up, he said. “There is potential because there are only two premium players… and I think there is a space for a third one”.
