Audi’s annual media conference recapped a record year for the company, as well as the announcement of a forthcoming entry-level electric vehicle (EV) to sit below the Q4 e-tron.
In the annual review, CEO Markus Duesmann confirmed that Audi will launch 20 new vehicles by 2025, 10 of which will be EVs.
“By 2027, we seek to offer an all-electric vehicle in each core segment,” said Mr Duesmann.
Audi has previously confirmed it will launch its last new combustion-powered vehicle in 2025 and go all-electric by 2033, except in China.
Current A3 
Q4 e-tron
“We will offer an A-segment car, under the Q4. [It will be] comparable to the A3,” chief technical officer Oliver Hoffman confirmed to Autocar.
That points to the new EV serving as a replacement for the Audi A3, which will be at the end of its lifecycle by 2027.
Details on the model, including its prospective launch date, remain under wraps for now. However, the small EV and its potential performance editions represent Audi’s ambition to present an all-electric offering in each core segment.
Autocar reports the small EV will be offered as a five-door hatchback and a four-door sedan that will have “altered proportions, including shorter overhangs, a shorter bonnet line, a longer cabin and larger wheelhouses”.
Audi’s small EV could potentially be one of the first models to use the Volkswagen Group’s Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), which is also set for a 2026 introduction.
In 2022, the percentage of Audi’s deliveries that were EVs increased by 44 per cent, showing the brand’s significant investment in the electrification of its key models.
On Audi’s strategic direction, CEO Markus Duesmann said, “The high demand for our Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi e-tron GT and Audi e-tron models confirms that we are on the right track toward e-mobility.”
As part of its sustainability goals, Audi will invest around €28 billion in the future fields of electrification and digitalisation from 2023 to 2027.
Q6 e-tron
This year, Audi will launch several new vehicles, including the Q6 e-tron, in what it’s calling “the largest product campaign in the company’s history”.
The Q6 e-tron will be the first of Audi’s electric models based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) and will be unveiled later this year.
The PPE is Audi’s EV platform developed in partnership with Porsche that will reportedly offer an electric range upwards of 480km, an 800V electrical system, and DC fast-charging speeds of up to 350kW.
Audi has already previewed its long-term electric ambitions with the ‘Sphere’ vehicles, a series of luxury all-electric concept cars.
Grandsphere concept
The Activesphere coupe crossover, Urbansphere people mover, Grandsphere sedan, and Skysphere roadster concept vehicles may be a glimpse at the design language and technology Audi will use to drive its upcoming electric offerings.
Mr Duesmann reassured investors that the move toward electrification is in line with customer demands, saying “We have some 20,000 pre-orders on the books, confirming that demand for sustainable electric mobility is booming.”
The 2022 fiscal year was record-breaking for Audi in several respects, with a 16.4 per cent increase in revenue to €61.8 billion and €7.6 billion in operating profit, a 40 per cent increase on the previous year’s figure.
