If Audi was one of the brands that paid more attention to order in the model range, the recent report that indicates the intention to change the name of the e-tron to that of the Q8 e-tron raises a barrage of consequences and questions, jumping to the fore that of the Audi Q7 Sportback and the future of the sportiest SUV.
When there are too many models in a range of cars, but you do not want to give them up, the only way to save them is fit them in some way in the offer. And this is precisely what Audi intends in view of the report published by a German media, in which it reflects the intention of taking advantage of the facelift in which it is immersed the Audi e-tron to replace its commercial name with that of the Q8 e-tron.
The play is not new, well one of the initial intentions is for the e-tron to occupy the hole of the Q6 e-tron, and that the new electric twin of the Macan be configured as Q5 e-tron. But the use of this trade name for an electric SUV to be sold in China has blown up the strategy, creating one of the biggest problems in the industry known to date. The big question that is emerging for many is if Audi knew this when they released the Q8 and e-tron, but the reality is that no.
Revolution in Audi names, why this situation has come to be
He tried to give the sporty SUV its own cache by raising it to the highest point of the range and with a proper name, and with the electric one he did the same. The firm chose to use the plug-in hybrids trade name for maximum electrification in a parallel offering to the combustion models. As the options beyond “e-tron”, “GT” and “Sportback” were running out, the firm has been occupying the even gaps of the Q models for the electric ones. And still, the options are over, so it was necessary to find a new positioning.
All this bobbin lace is one of the ideas of the most powerful woman in the brand, Hildegard Wortmann, member of the Board of Directors of Audi AG and responsible for Marketing and Sales, through which all the decisions of future models and of those who leave or stay. Knowing that The Audi e-tron is one of the references on the market, doing without it is not an option, so it has been embedded in the top of the range. And the same should do the sports variant of the e-tron Sportback. The strategy is extremely intelligent, because brings the arrival of the two electric models forward four years with which he intended to fill that void and which was scheduled for 2026. But also a daring bet.
Interestingly, manufactured in the same plant in Brussels. And it is that, even the date, pointed perfectly to the second generation of the two electric crossovers. Thus, Audi have thought what better way to do it than by changing the name. Now, logic invites us to think that the same strategy will be turned around and carried out with the Audi Q8. The facelift of the sportiest SUV of the German brand is approaching, it should not take long to see the first prototypes, and we fear that the German brand will keep completely opposite models in the same range and under the same trade name. Which means that very soon, we will begin to hear about the Q7 Sportback. Which is by no means far-fetched.