Photo: bmw
The launch of the 2 Series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer models by BMW definitely marked a turning point in the industry, especially as far as premium manufacturers are concerned. And yet, the trend of copying one another doesn’t seem all that profitable at the moment, especially from Audi’s point of view.
In a recent talk with Automotive News Europe, Audi’s development boss, Ulrich Hackenberg said that the company he’s representing has no plans to enter the same niche as BMW as they don’t have to in order to reach 2 million units sold per year.
Admittedly, the Munich-based company did acknowledge the fact that it is expanding into new niches and even front-wheel drive territory to further expand its sales but it also worked as they did reach the 2 million mark last year.
“VW has a wide range of minivans that are very successful. For the character of the brand Audi we don't see a car in that form currently,” Hackenberg said. Instead, the company will be focusing on smaller SUVs that seem to be the hype recently: “The trend is moving very much toward SUVs, and we see very, very high conquest rates for smaller SUVs. We believe we can achieve our volume targets with our current approach.”
In this regard, the Ingolstadt-based car maker is continuing its expansion, already confirming development of the new Q1 and Q5 models, both of them being scheduled for launch in the near future. They will most likely debut next year at an European venue.
That means that for the time being, BMW will only be competing against Mercedes-Benz's B-Class in the premium tourer segment and it's going to be fierce. But truth be told, even though Audi is making these claims at the moment, a change of strategy could happen at any time.
Admittedly, the Munich-based company did acknowledge the fact that it is expanding into new niches and even front-wheel drive territory to further expand its sales but it also worked as they did reach the 2 million mark last year.
“VW has a wide range of minivans that are very successful. For the character of the brand Audi we don't see a car in that form currently,” Hackenberg said. Instead, the company will be focusing on smaller SUVs that seem to be the hype recently: “The trend is moving very much toward SUVs, and we see very, very high conquest rates for smaller SUVs. We believe we can achieve our volume targets with our current approach.”
In this regard, the Ingolstadt-based car maker is continuing its expansion, already confirming development of the new Q1 and Q5 models, both of them being scheduled for launch in the near future. They will most likely debut next year at an European venue.
That means that for the time being, BMW will only be competing against Mercedes-Benz's B-Class in the premium tourer segment and it's going to be fierce. But truth be told, even though Audi is making these claims at the moment, a change of strategy could happen at any time.
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