Audi Q6 e-tron set for name change 10 | 03 | 2017
AUDI HAS HINTED that its pure-electric SUV, currently referred to as the Q6, and set to be launched in production form early in 2018, is set for a name change. (Related: Audi reveals new Q8 Sport Concept)
While Audi boss Rupert Stadler confirmed the e-tron electric SUV concept will appear in Scottish showrooms next year, he also acknowledged it’s unlikely to carry the much-predicted Q6 badge.
Boasting a fully-electric powertrain, and with a 310-mile range, the production model will look almost identical to the car first previewed at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It will also use the name ‘e-tron’ in its badging, the Audi designation for a pure-electric car.
The now un-named electric SUV will be the first of three pure-EV Audis due by 2020.
“E-tron is a very strong brand, something you will judge in five years time,” Stadler explained. “We first communicated e-tron about four or five years ago, and we stuck to the concept of e-tron. In that respect we are the most consistent brand ever.
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“However, I would not like to limit the nomenclature for the first electric car in the range, because Q6 fixes the price as well as Q8 is fixing a price, and I would like to feel free.”
The ‘car referred to as Q6’ has always been expected to slot in between the Q5 and the Q7 in Audi's line-up.
“The first of the three models is an SUV,” Stadler continued. “Even though the architecture is a little more difficult because you don’t have the perfect aerodynamics, people love to sit in an SUV. That’s why we decided to go the SUV way.
“We also have to respect the growing trend of SUV segments. I think the decision we made two or three years ago was absolutely right.”
While Audi will not be drawn on the pricing of the new model, it’s understood the cost of the battery technology — which is required to deliver the 300-plus miles of range — is potentially going to push the price of the car closer to that of the Q7. In fact, the new model may even be more expensive.
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Jim McGill