AS AUDI’S SHOWN, KEEP UP WITH THE MARKET OR LOSE GROUND TO RIVALS

NOT ONLY DOES Audi now lag behind its great rivals Mercedes-benz and BMW in the sales chart, the former by almost 350,000 cars this year, it’s also struggling to get out the kinds of models the market desires quickly enough.

Mercedes’ surge past Audi in the sales charts has been astonishing. It has responded to the global demand of SUVS with flexible production of distinct-but-related models, and has the capacity to build them. Not selling enough C-classes? Have a long-wheelbase version, or the GLC or GLC Coupé SUV derivatives, all ready at the same time.

The cars Audi has chosen to kick off its new era? The big A8 saloon and the A7 saloon-cum-coupé, which has always had a bit of an identity crisis. That the new A7, which is supposed to reboot Audi’s design and dynamic traits, has been created under three different development bosses does not put the reinvention on the front foot.

Just before Dieselgate, Ulrich Hackenberg (number one of the bosses) was planning a new era of more distinctive Audis in tune with global demands. We’re still waiting. The impact of new arrival Peter Mertens (three of three), the man behind the latest generation of distinctive Volvos, can’t be felt soon enough.