Audi’s TT and R8 models are now a thing of the past, and this German brand does not intend to fill those gaps anytime soon.
Why? The sports car segment continues to shrink while SUV sales continue to rise even after decades of growth. Carsales magazine quotes Audi’s product planner in Australia, Peter Struaveke, as saying, among other things: “I think Audi is always looking at global trends in the segment. That’s why, obviously, SUVs have been on the rise over the past so many years. At this point, they’re still increasing sales.”
He goes on to say that the Sportback derivatives of certain Q models have some sports car DNA. However, the sad reality is that these SUVs mostly refer to styling changes of existing crossovers. Other models are missing from the offer because the new A5 will not get two-door models. This effectively means that Audi no longer sells coupe or convertible models.
However, some SUVs are also living on borrowed time. The smaller Q2 will be phased out after one generation. Additionally, Audi wants to sell the Brussels, Belgium factory and kill the Q8 E-Tron and its Sportback sibling due to poor sales.
In China, Audi and SAIC recently teamed up to launch the confusingly named AUDI brand, with three models to be phased in starting in 2025.
If Audi does decide to bring back the TT one day, it won’t be a surprise if it’s just another crossover, according to Motor1.
The high demand for SUVs is not the only reason why fun cars have been left for other times. Audi Australia director Jeff Mannering notes that the company needs to be cautious about how it spends money on new products, given the challenging economic climate in 2024. He also cited the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine as contributing factors.
Audi is not doing particularly well as sales fell by 10.9% in the first nine months of this year. In the third quarter, profit fell by 91%.
Prepared by: Ivan Mitić – Autoblog.rs
Source: autoblog.rs
