Audi is preparing for an all-electric future and will not develop new internal combustion engines again. The confirmation was made by Markus Duesmann, general director of the German manufacturer, to the German publication Automobilewoche.
From now on, and according to Duesmann, Audi will be limited to upgrading existing diesel and gasoline units to respond to increasingly stringent emissions regulations.
Markus Duesmann was peremptory and left no room for any doubts: “We are not going to develop any more new internal combustion engines, but we are going to adapt our existing internal combustion engines to the new emissions guidelines”.
Duesmann cited the European Union's increasingly demanding challenges to justify this decision and cast a very critical eye on the Euro 7 standard, which should come into force in 2025, stating that the environment has little to gain from this decision.
Markus Duesmann, Director General of AudiThe European Union's plans for an even stricter Euro 7 emissions standard are a huge technical challenge and, at the same time, bring little benefit to the environment. This greatly restricts the combustion engine.
electric offensive on the way
Going forward, the Ingolstadt brand will slowly eliminate combustion engines from its range and replace them with all-electric units, thus fulfilling the goal — announced in 2020 — of having a catalog of 20 electric models in 2025.
After the e-tron SUV (and e-tron Sportback) and the sporty e-tron GT, comes the Audi Q4 e-tron, a small electric SUV that will be unveiled to the world in April and arrives on the Portuguese market in May , with prices from 44 700 EUR.
Speaking to Automobilewoche, Markus Duesmann said that the Q4 e-tron “will be affordable for many people” and that it will serve as “a gateway to Audi's electric mobility”. The “boss” of the German manufacturer went further and was even very optimistic about the brand's next all-electric model: “It will sell well and guarantee significant numbers”.
Audi all-electric in 2035
In January of this year, quoted by the publication Wirtschafts Woche, Markus Duesmann had already revealed that Audi has decided to discontinue the production of internal combustion engines, gasoline or diesel, within 10 to 15 years, thus admitting that the brand has Ingolstadt could become an all-electric manufacturer as early as 2035.
However, and according to the Motor1 publication, before Audi's absolute farewell to internal combustion engines, we will still have the Swan's Corner of the W12 engine, which, by all indications, will "live up" an ultra-luxury version of the A8, recovering the Horch name, a German luxury car brand founded by August Horch at the beginning of the 20th century, having been part of Auto Union, together with Audi, DKW and Wanderer.
Source: Automobilewoche.