Audi’s E-Tron takes aim at Tesla
FRANKFURT: Look out, Tesla: The Germans are finally coming.
Audi unveiled its E-Tron battery-powered crossover that’s due to hit the showrooms later this year during a bash Monday thrown in Tesla Inc’s backyard.
The festivities followed Mercedes-Benz revealing its own electric crossover earlier this month, and BMW showing off another Tesla-fighting concept model on Sunday.
While automakers around the world have been coveting Tesla’s stock valuation and clean-car reputation for years, the series of events shows Elon Musk’s company is on the verge of seeing more serious competition from the leaders in automotive luxury.
Audi’s first fully electric auto would be made in Brussels and would arrive in the United States during the second quarter of 2019, the company said in a statement.
The five-seater starts at US$74,800 and will qualify for the US$7,500 federal tax credit.
Audi unveiled the E-Tron at the site of an old Ford plant in Richmond, California, across the bay from San Francisco and roughly 56km north of Tesla’s sole auto assembly plant in Fremont.
“Audi is going electric and this is our our first major step,” Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, said in an interview Monday before the unveiling.
“We feel we have an extremely compelling product.” Audi chose the San Francisco area for the E-Tron’s global debut for several reasons: California is the biggest luxury auto market, the tech industry is prominent, and governor Jerry Brown just hosted a Global Climate Action Summit.
Hundreds of dealers, journalists and Audi employees flew in for the event, which included a boat ride from San Francisco to the big reveal.
“California is a big, impactful market,”
Keogh said.
“Electrification, the tech industry, the ecosystem is all here. It’s the right place to do it.”
Audi, Volkswagen AG’s premium brand, shifted the presentation to Tesla’s backyard after initial plans for a fete in Brussels at the end of August ran the risk to be overshadowed by the surprise arrest of suspended CEO Rupert Stadler over allegations he may have tampered with evidence related to the parent company’s diesel scandal. — Bloomberg