The author recently learned from relevant sources that Audi CEO Marcus Duesmann ( ) has confirmed that the Audi Q2 and Audi A1 will be officially discontinued after the end of the sales cycle, and there will be no follow-up models. This basically reflects Audi's future development strategy, which is to focus on the high-end car market and ensure the brand's premium ability. However, it is understood that the Audi Q2L produced by FAW-Volkswagen Audi is very likely to no longer be discontinued, and this car is also an important source of sales for the Audi brand in the Chinese market, with cumulative sales of 44,313 units in 2021.
As a small SUV under the brand, the Audi Q2 was born in 2016 and handed over to FAW-Volkswagen Audi for domestic production and launch in 2018. Compared with the overseas version, the domestic Audi Q2L has a longer wheelbase, which further caters to the preferences of domestic consumers. From the perspective of time, the current generation of Audi Q2 has reached the end of the product life cycle, if the domestic version is not in the scope of discontinuation, then the new generation of Audi Q2 is likely to become a unique model in China.
As for the Audi A1, it was born before the Audi Q2, with the first generation model launched in 2010 and a longitudinal upgrade in 2018. As a small car owned by Audi, the Audi A1 was not localized in China, and was once sold as an imported car in the Chinese market. It is understood that the cumulative sales of Audi A1 in the European market last year were 56,883 units, a year-on-year decrease of 1%, which shows that the car still has a certain market foundation.
In the context of electrification and chip shortage, Audi is also facing a lot of pressure and challenges; In addition, in the all-important Chinese market, the brand's sales are also declining, with official figures showing that Audi sold 104,000 units (including imported cars) in China in 2021, compared with 106,000 units (including imported cars) in 2020.
On the other hand, the old rival BMW brand will deliver a total of 1,000 vehicles in 2021, and the Mercedes-Benz brand will deliver 1,000 vehicles in China, both ahead of Audi. In addition, it cannot be ignored that in the current Chinese auto consumer market, the terminal discount margin of many Audi models is greater than that of the two old rivals, reflecting that the brand is at a certain disadvantage in terms of premium ability. Now, Audi has finally made the choice to strengthen its brand image and increase profits by discontinuing some entry-level products and focusing more energy on models with higher product positioning and greater profits. Of course, this move may also have an impact on sales in the short term, and it will take time to verify whether this is the case.