THE NEW AUDI SHOW CAR – A COMPACT SPORTS CAR REDEFINED
- Crossover for all roads and tracks, for everyday driving and recreational use
- Pioneering design, with precise lines and taut surfaces
- Audi to present the two-door car at the NAIAS in Detroit
Ingolstadt/Detroit, December 6, 2013 – Agile, compact and versatile: The new Audi show car is making its debut in January 2014 at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The two-door model with its high ground clearance is a crossover with a distinctly sporting slant – a car for all roads and tracks, for everyday driving and recreational use.
The show car is a systematic development of the Audi design language. It combines a host of visual elements from future models with the Audi-typical allroad concept and independent “Shooting Brake” body style.
Measuring 4.20 metres in length, the show car has a powerful road stance. Precise and clearly drawn lines as well as geometric surfaces are combined to create a sculpted, clear design form. It is almost as if the outer skin of the two-door car has been modelled from a solid piece, from the Singleframe grille and striking side tornado line to the taut, coupé-like rear. The overhangs are short; the roof line is low and it ends in a strong C pillar. The pronounced horizontal body line and the large 19-inch wheels emphasise the impression of concentrated energy.
The show car is a compelling blend of form and function. The characteristic allroad design features serve to seemingly contract its dimensions visually while also underscoring its offroad character. The aluminium underbody guards at front and rear emphasize the width and protect the car off road.
Design elements that are typical of e-tron models, such as the ribs in the Singleframe grille and in the side air inlets, fit in harmoniously with the overall design concept. The dual headlights and the honeycomb-structured Singleframe grille indicate the further development of the quattro design language which Audi already presented with its Sport quattro concept show car in September of this year at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt.
AUDI CONFIRMS ALL-NEW Q1 SUV TO BE PRODUCED FROM 2016
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: “The Q1 is a key component of our growth strategy.” Chairman of the General Works Council, Peter Mosch, welcomes the decision
The Board of Management and the Works Council of AUDI AG have confirmed that a new SUV model called the Q1 will be produced at its plant in Ingolstadt, Germany from 2016.
“The Audi Q1 is part of our broad-based SUV strategy. It is designed on the basis of the modular transverse engine concept and will round off our Q series at the bottom end,” stated Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
As an attractive entry into the Q family, the new model will make a significant contribution to the company’s ongoing growth and will strengthen its international competitiveness. Audi is continuing its model offensive with the Q1; by 2020, the brand will expand its product range from the current 49 models to more than 60, and will reach total unit sales of more than two million cars each year.
The decision to produce the new model will help to secure utilisation of capacity at the main plant in Ingolstadt over the long term. At this site, Audi produces models in the A and B segments, namely the A3 and A3 Sportback and the A4/A5 family.
Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council, welcomes the decision: “This is a clear commitment to Ingolstadt as a production site. We will continue to make every effort to develop the plant even further as the leading technological site of the Audi Group.”
The Q family currently comprises the Audi Q3, RS Q3, Q5, SQ5 and Q7. The Q5 is the global market leader in its direct competitive environment. By the end of October this year, 194,930 examples of this mid-size SUV had been delivered to customers – a 17 per cent increase over the same period last year. A production total of approximately 230,000 Q5s is planned for 2013, which is more than half of the total Q volume.
The proportion of the company’s total production volume accounted for by SUVs will be about 28 per cent this year, and is planned to rise to more than 35 per cent by 2020. Overall, Audi has produced and delivered more than 1.5 million Q family models since the market launch of the first SUV in 2006.
Notes
In 2012 Audi achieved best ever worldwide sales of 1,455,100 cars, an 11.7 per cent improvement over 2011. Of these, 123,622 cars were delivered to the UK, an 8.6 per cent increase on 2011, and another record. To remain true to its Vorsprung durch Technik philosophy, the brand plans to invest a total of €11 billion, mainly in product development, between now and 2015. The current portfolio extends to 49 models, boosted by recent additions including the A3 Saloon, the A3 Cabriolet and the RS Q3 SUV. On the race circuit, Audi has competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour sportscar endurance race 15 times since 1999, achieving a podium finish on all of these occasions as well as outright victory 12 times. After making history at Le Mans in 2012 by winning with the R18 e-tron quattro using pioneering hybrid diesel technology, Audi underscored this remarkable achievement by again winning under hybrid power in 2013.