Q8 e-tron

Make
Audi
Segment
SUV

Audi's CEO announced that the brand will introduce 20 new or refreshed models by 2025, of which 50% will be electric vehicles.

By 2033, it will be an exclusively EV company, which is three years later than its original announcement. It will also use even numbers for electric vehicles and odd numbers for ICE or PHEV cars, as if its naming structure wasn't confusing enough.

According to Audi, the new naming structure began with the recently facelifted e-tron, now known as the Q8 e-tron. The Q4 e-tron and Q6 e-tron already fit with the new naming structure. Still, traditional models like the A4, A6, and A8 will keep their current names until they are eventually succeeded by electric vehicles.

Audi's CTO also told Autocar that it's working on an A-segment model. There's only one even-number option left, which is 2. Audi already sells the Q2 in other markets, and it will likely be replaced with an EV that will have a lot in common with Volkswagen's new budget car concept.

We can also expect the new A8 to borrow heavily from the Audi grandsphere concept. The urbansphere concept likely previews the design language Audi will use when it inevitably replaces traditional models like the A3 and A4, while the activesphere concept points to a large luxury off-roader. We already know Porsche is working on an electric SUV that will slot in above the Cayenne, which means Audi already has access to loads of R&D work.

To make its vehicles more accessible globally, Audi is looking into combining its dealerships with Ducati. The latter is the Volkswagen Group's premium motorcycle brand, so it would be a good fit. Audi CFO Jurgen Rittersberger stated that this business model would not be used at all Ducati dealerships but rather where opportunities exist.

Audi also used the opportunity to state that it will decide this year whether it will build an EV manufacturing facility in the USA. The plan is to invest $45 billion over the next several years, and that money will go a long way in the USA thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

"The United States is an extremely important market for us," Duesmann said to Automotive News. "We have considered to expand capacities, but the decision has not been taken yet."

There's a good chance Audi will eventually end up in the USA, as the IRA's benefits are too good to pass up, which has left the European Union scrambling to implement a similar system to drive investment. Audi's mothership already announced massive investments in South Carolina and Canada shortly after pausing all new developments in Europe.