SUNSET CLAUSE FOR AUDI’S BREADWINNERS

Following the launch of the stunning Audi e-tron GT, and buoyed by the sales success of the Audi e-tron SUV and Sportback in Europe, Audi is now showing more confidence in making a quicker than anticipated transition to electric mobility.

According to German publication Manager Magazin, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann has all but given an end date for the Audi A4, A6, and A8 internal combustion model production. Plug-in hybrid models may also be off the table as Audi begins to execute an exit plan from internal combustion engine models to all-electric models like the Audi e-tron SUV, Sportback and GT. While new versions of the A4 and A6 will be launched again in the next lifetime cycle, starting in 2023, with electric variants set to follow shortly thereafter, this looks to be the final lifecycle for Audi’s mid-range internal combustion engine models, which should come to an end before 2030.

Earlier last month, Duesmann expressed similar sentiments to German business paper Wirtschaftswoche, confirming that Audi is working on a concrete timetable for phasing out the internal combustion engine “in the next 10, maybe 15 years”.

With Audi following Tesla’s lead by electrifying its more expensive top-end models first, the Audi A8 may well have its final refresh at the end of 2021 before being replaced by an even more compelling all-electric model. Developed under Audi’s Artemis project, a new such model would be called neither A, nor Q, and it is not clear that Audi will continue with its e-tron naming convention.

If the new Audi e-tron GT is anything to go by, Audi seems to be in efficient hands under the leadership of Duesmann and ready to maintain its Vorsprung Durch Technik in the era of electric mobility.

Source: electrive.com