In case you needed to discover a appropriate animal for every of the Volkswagen Group’s 12 manufacturers, the picture of a lizard would come to thoughts for Audi. A lizard has a hanging look however can also be moderately motionless many of the day.
Throughout the VW empire, nobody doubts the competence of Audi’s engineers or the flexibility of the designers to create elegant premium automobiles. Nonetheless, Audi did too little in 2022 in comparison with its premium opponents Mercedes-Benz and BMW. And in 2023, there’s little signal of enchancment.
Postponed market launches as a result of software program points, the winding up of the Artemis autonomous flagship automotive initially deliberate for 2024 and falling behind in electrical vehicles imply that CEO Markus Duesmann can’t be glad with the model’s efficiency in 2022.
Audi is below shut scrutiny from the Porsche-Piech households — VW Group’s majority shareholders who’ve at all times had a particular affinity for the model.
New VW Group CEO Oliver Blume — who additionally leads Porsche — has set himself the duty of managing Audi extra intently.
Audi is at the moment in a quandary: BMW and Mercedes are pulling forward with increasingly more new fashions, whereas Chinese language premium start-ups reminiscent of Nio are placing Audi below extra stress.
China weak point
Audi’s weak point is noticeable in China, the business’s most necessary development market.
Gross sales of the high-margin A6 fell 31 % in China within the first three quarters of 2022 and gross sales of the A8 range-toping sedean had been down 36 %.
“In case you take a look at comparable fashions to the A6 such because the BMW 5 Collection or the Mercedes E-Class in China, BMW was capable of improve its gross sales figures in 2022. So it isn’t due to the section. The A6 has an issue available in the market. Audi will not be seen on the identical stage as Mercedes and BMW,” mentioned Jochen Siebert, head of JSC Automotive, a consulting company specializing within the Chinese language market.
In response to Siebert’s feedback, Audi pointed to a complete of 496,295 automobiles delivered in China within the first three quarters and cited persevering with provide bottlenecks, particularly with semiconductors, in addition to COVID-related manufacturing restrictions as causes for its gross sales difficulties.
These issues will ease this yr. However Audi nonetheless will lack a brand new prime mannequin to meet up with the competitors in China, and likewise in Europe and the U.S.
The e-tron full-electric mannequin, launched in 2019, has been upgraded and renamed the Q8 e-tron. It’s going to arrive in European dealerships on the finish of February. The U.S. market launch will probably be on the finish of April.
The long-awaited Q6 e-tron is anticipated to be unveiled within the autumn. It’s Audi’s first SUV on the brand new PPE electrical platform developed with Porsche and the model’s most necessary all-electric mannequin launch this yr. It is also Duesmann’s first new full-electric automotive after three and a half years as Audi CEO.
A brand new A4 compact mannequin may nonetheless are available 2023, and the A6, which is necessary as a enterprise fleet automotive, is getting a face-lift. Nevertheless, the A6’s full-electric model won’t be accessible till 2024, whereas BMW will be capable to supply its clients the i5 and i5 station wagon as early as this summer time.
The temper amongst Audi’s sellers is unhealthy. The brand new fashions aren’t coming quick sufficient for them.
And Audi’s opponents are making enjoyable of the model’s slick TV commercials for futuristic research such because the Grandsphere. Their executives say: “We want to promote vehicles on TV that you would be able to purchase.”
On Jan. 26, Audi will unveil its fourth Sphere idea known as Activesphere. That is yet one more imaginative and prescient whose realization is a great distance off.
Audi’s gross sales are prone to drop this yr due to its growing old lineup. Its world deliveries fell 3.9 % to 1.61 million final yr on extended provide bottlenecks and main challenges within the logistics chain, the model mentioned in a press launch on Tuesday.
The chips crunch is prone to ease this yr however it can nonetheless be an issue. The lull in mannequin launches may even result in underutilization of Audi’s crops.
‘BMW North’
Audi’s issues and its excessive variety of former BMW executives in prime posts imply that Audi is being known as “BMW North” by dissatisfied members of VW Group’s management in Wolfsburg, in accordance with Spiegel journal.
Audi’s Ingolstadt headquarters in Bavaria, Germany, is simply 85 km north of BMW’s Munich base. Duesmann, gross sales chief Hildegard Wortmann and advertising boss Henrik Wenders are all former BMW executives.
All the management of Audi’s Components 1 group that’s at the moment being created, additionally has a BMW previous.
With the ouster of former VW Group CEO Herbert Diess, who additionally got here from BMW, the executives are lacking an necessary backer, mentioned an insider.
Excessive-ranking Audi managers say they’ve by no means heard the time period “BMW North.” Nonetheless, the unease at Wolfsburg will not be diminishing.
Earlier than Christmas, there have been rumors that Wortmann would get replaced within the close to future. Wayne Griffiths, at the moment head of VW Group’s Seat/Cupra manufacturers, was touted as her successor. Griffiths is a former Audi supervisor.
Audi strongly denied the rumors. However 2023 will probably be a yr of probation for Wortmann. Audi has to ship on gross sales.
For Duesmann, the important thing problem will probably be to show that Audi is selecting up pace to catch rivals.
If Duesmann is to stay as Audi CEO by means of to subsequent yr, the model must achieve momentum.
Duesmann will get one other likelihood, an insider advised Automobilwoche. “He has to benefit from it,” the manager mentioned.