Audi on Monday delayed construction of a new wind tunnel because of the company’s massive diesel scandal, but announced that it would invest nearly $3.3 billion for 2016 — including bringing to market a new Q2, an updated Q5 and a SUV based on the concept shown above in two years.
The automaker’s chief, Rupert Stadler, affirmed the company would release a battery-powered vehicle by 2018, inspired by the e-tron quattro concept revealed at Frankfurt.
No word if the delayed wind tunnel would have allowed Audi to develop real mirrors.
In its announcement, Audi outlined its plans for investments in 2016, including the aforementioned Q2. The automaker said by 2020 its portfolio would include 60 vehicles.
Audi hinted that its new Q5, coming in 2016, would be more than just gasoline-powered.
“A significant proportion of our investment is naturally in the field of alternative drive systems,” Stadler said in the statement.
The company also announced that they were searching high and low for engineers versed in “alternative drive systems and lightweight construction, but also for IT specialists, who will further develop the fields of Audi connect, Audi mobility and smart factory in the context of digitalization.”
So, yeah, Audi’s still spending money.
“The automaker’s chief, Rupert Stadler, affirmed the company would release a battery-powered vehicle by 2018, inspired by the e-tron quattro concept revealed at Frankfurt.”
I can see it now in 2020 when someone pops off the ‘battery’ cover on one of these hypothetical electric vehicles and discovers it was actually coal-steam engine with some blue LED lights glued on the whole time.
SCANDAL. BOSCH DID IT.
Maybe the TDI fix is this:
Drivers will pop the cover off their TDI and find a 100 kW motor and a pack-o-batteries in place of the fuel tank.
At first look i thought this was a FORD.
On second look i knew it was a FROD.
To be fair, Ford has been stealing Audi design traits for more than 30 years. Audi could steal some back once in a while.
Huh? Audi had a design?
I liked the Audi commercial they had a year or so ago, where a man walks up to his Audi and swipes the door a bit, and a light slides down the car lighting the whole thing up.
I went “WOW!” every time I saw it. Full wrap-around light bar is winning.
The only part I remember from their Christmas commercial this year was the super-dousche move where they are about to take the family photo and the guy pushes the family apart to make sure you could see the emblem in the picture.
Yes, I remember this one clearly. When I saw it, I thought to myself the guy will get all the four-roundels in his face he could possibly want when he rips whole front end off car to change a headlight or a filter or something equally mundane yet turned into Space Shuttle maintenance by Audi. Enjoy, sucker.
They aren’t roundels, they’re rings. BMW has a roundel.
I’m not sure they thought too much about that ad before making it.
I hope not. That part was cringe worthy. Protecting your car from a snowball (which may be icey!) I can get behind. I don’t understand the inclusion of that one segment in a national commercial spot that seems to suggest your customers are huge dbags though.
The premium-category commercials over the holidays are a little too smarmy for their own good. Santa in his M6, Santa in his AMG mushing lesser Benzes, Lexus yuppies making up Santa-stories for how the tarted-up Camry landed in the driveway.
But the dude with the roundels (rings! I meant rings!) is the worst, especially post-VAG scandal. Shouldn’t he be holding his head in shame, wondering if this is last snow he’ll ever see given all the extra global warming his ring-festooned Volkswagen has been dumping into Gaia’s air?
Forget the wind tunnel. Audi needs a new design staff. Every car they make looks like every other car they make. And the new stuff, like the Q7, even the second-gen R8, are amazingly boring.
In this age of spectacularly dork-faced cars (because that’s all the stylists can touch) that e-tron is über representative.
Reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt.
I just do not like all the hard creases that I am seeing in all their concepts. Too cadillac-ish.
BREAKING NEWS: Due to the diesel scandal, Audi’s upcoming redesigned models, which were previously scheduled to have the angles of their single frame grills sharpened by 2%, will now be sharpened by only 1%. Headlights will similarly be angled downward 1% less than originally intended.
Seriously, Audi could delay their entire model line by a full cycle, and I don’t think anyone would even notice. The recent reskin of the A7 seemed designed to make it more bland, and harder to tell apart from the A6, and the new R8 looks like an origami version of the old R8.
With Mercedes now offering 4Matic on just about everything they make including AMG variants, and Mercedes interiors now MILES ahead of Audi’s in terms of design and materials quality, it’s getting a lot harder to justify buying one when they look more boring than ever. The 2017 E-class looks nicer inside than the A8.
Audi’s cars may all look similar, but that’s a fairly common practice now across many brands. Besides, the A5 still has the best lines of any coupe available today, despite the fact that it’s been around for 9 years in the U.S. and a bit longer elsewhere.
Generally, Audis are cars for people who a appreciate beautiful and understated styling without the need for any over-the-top styling that is becoming increasingly popular. Yes, I’m looking at you Nissan. Oh, and Lexus too.