Audi CEO Gernot Döllner has again hinted the firm is working on an electric off-roader to take on the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
As previously reported by Autocar, the German firm has been considering a new flagship 4×4 for several years, as such a machine would push into a new market segment.
While Audi has yet to officially acknowledge work on an off-roader, Döllner didn’t deny the prospect when asked about it during Audi’s annual media conference.
“There has always been speculation in the media on various products, and the good news is the Audi brand can do everything from an entry-level electric vehicle to sports cars all the way to rugged SUVs,” he said, adding that “in the future you can expect a lot from Audi”.
A luxurious off-roader would be particularly appealing to the vital US market and would fit into Audi’s new strategy of more localised products for that region, with a particular focus on SUVs.
That is best shown by the forthcoming Q9, pictured below, which the firm has confirmed will arrive later this year as Audi’s largest and more opulent SUV to date.
Döllner added: “At the moment, we are very excited about the Q9, and this is really a product developed for the US market. We’ve really listened to what customers there want, and for the first time will be launched in the US first, which really shows what ambitions we have there for our customers.”
It first emerged that Audi was considering a flagship 4×4 in 2023, when then design boss Marc Lichte suggested such a model would build neatly on the brand’s legacy of Quattro cars and tap into a highly profitable part of the market in which Audi was unrepresented.
“There is potential because there are only two premium players” in the segment, he said, “and I think there is a space for a third one.”
Lichte left Audi shortly after and was replaced by Massimo Frascella, whose role of shaping the Defender in his previous job at JLR reinforced speculation that Audi was gearing up to launch a similar car.
Launching a relatively low-volume model would seem at odds with Döllner’s wider objective to simplify the Audi line-up, but he previously said it remains important to have flagship cars that serve as technology showcases for the brand and can influence other models.
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