Audi plans to build A3-like EV in Ingolstadt from 2026

Now, it seems it will hit the road even sooner than planned. Audi boss Döllner said in an interview in March 2024 that he was aiming for an accelerated development time of three years (i.e. by 2027) for a new electric vehicle below the Q4 in the A3 segment. Now, in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, he said that the planned model will be built at the company’s headquarters in Ingolstadt as early as next year. The Audi Q4 e-tron, on the other hand, is currently built at the VW plant in Zwickau, but could reportedly be moved there in the first half of the 2030s.

So far, there are hardly any details about the new model. Last year, Döllner said: “It will be a wonderful, unique independent vehicle concept, produced in Ingolstadt, and it will be something we can all look forward to.” The question is, however, how a more expensive Audi model can stand out from the VW Group’s well-known MEB models when the platform will effectively no longer be developed further after 2027. Even today, the Audi Q4 e-tron has a hard time compared to the VW ID.4/ID.5 and Skoda Enyaq, let alone justifying the usual Audi premium price.

Just last week, Audi announced a cost-cutting package that includes plans to cut up to 7,500 jobs in Germany by 2029. At the same time, Audi plans to invest around eight billion euros in its German plants by 2029 – mostly in electric mobility. In this context, the company already mentioned that it wanted to bring a new model from the entry-level segment in Ingolstadt.

In the interview with the German media outlet, Döllner also acknowledges sales problems. After all, sales have recently been lower than at BMW or Tesla. “We could probably say even louder how good we already are,” said Döllner, emphasising that Audi already has vehicles on the market that can do what other manufacturers are only announcing for the future.

One idea for sales: “We are appealing to buyers that we have not been able to reach with our four rings.” That is why, according to Döllner, Audi wants to present the first production car from its cooperation with the Chinese state-owned company SAIC in April, which also includes MG and Maxus. As announced in November, Audi and SAIC want to establish a new sub-brand for China that does not feature the famous four rings as a logo and is called AUDI in capital letters. Audi’s parent company VW has been a close partner of SAIC for 40 years and recently extended the cooperation until 2040.

sueddeutsche.de, n-tv.de (both in German)