Audi will completely abandon the A1, Q2 and other entry-level models in the era of intelligent electric "only big" exclusive?

Financial Associated Press (Beijing, reporter Liu Yang) news, although in the first three quarters of last year, global sales increased by 8.6% year-on-year, but as the Audi brand entry-level model of the Audi A1, still failed to get rid of the fate of being eliminated. As for the Audi Q2, which saw a 7.3% decline in sales in the same period, it has been thrown into the "trash can" by Audi along with the A1.

"The Audi A1 and Q2 will be removed from Audi's product camp at the end of their current lifecycle." An official statement recently released by the Fourth Ring brand announced the fate of the two A0-class cars, "We can confirm that the Audi Q2 will be phased out in a few years and there will be no direct successor." ”

"There is no news on this in the Chinese market at the moment." As for whether the Audi Q2, which has been domestically produced in China, will also be discontinued in the future, Audi Chinese said.

The market performance may have already indicated the fate of these two cars being discontinued. According to the data, the sales volume of audi A1 in the main market of Europe has declined year after year, from nearly 100,000 vehicles in 2016 to 62,000 vehicles in 2020, a drop of nearly 40%. As for the Audi Q2, which was launched in 2016, the performance of the past two years has also been sluggish, with global sales of only 124,000 vehicles in 2020, down 4% year-on-year; in the first three quarters of last year, it fell by 7.3% year-on-year.

In addition to absolute sales, the proportion of Audi A1 and Q2 in Audi's overall sales is also decreasing year by year. Among them, the share of A1 fell from 4.53% in 2019 to 3.82% in the first three quarters of 2021, while Q2 fell from 7.26% to 6.83%. In the gear of the comprehensive transformation to the era of intelligent electric, whether it is A1 or Q2, it looks more like a chicken rib - not only can not dilute the cost through the scale effect, but also occupies a large number of research and development resources.

According to Audi's statement, Audi will focus on building more profitable first-class models and abandoning small cars. "We have to cut spending." Audi CEO Marcus Dusman said that Audi clearly positions itself as a high-end brand within the Volkswagen Group, "Therefore, the Audi brand must limit the downward business scope while expanding upwards." ”

Audi has previously confirmed that its last newly developed internal combustion engine car will be available in 2026. After that, Audi will only launch new all-electric models, and by 2033 it will eliminate traditional fuel models.

At present, Audi has three major electric platforms of MLB evo, PPE and J1, as well as Volkswagen's MEB platform, corresponding to Audi's first pure electric car e-tron, Audi A6 e-tron and new cars to be put into production by Audi FAW joint venture in 2024; as for the MEB platform, SAIC Audi's Q4-e-tron was born.

According to Audi's plan, its latest flagship pure electric model, which shares platforms, technology and accessories with Bentley and Porsche, the Randsphere, will be launched in 2025.

Obviously, in the context of the epidemic, rising raw material prices, and chip shortages, Audi must give priority to medium and large products with higher profits. The same is true of Audi's main competitors, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

"Our goal is to generate more revenue for each car." BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Peter has said so. Based on this, BMW will phase out its early pure electric compact model BMWi3 in June this year, replaced by a pure electric MINI and BMW iX1 that will be launched in 2023. At the same time, after the 8 Series coupe, BMW will also launch the XM large SUV next year.