Demand for SUVs and crossovers is showing no signs of slowing down. It’s why Ford is practically pulling out of the passenger car market altogether. This trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by Audi. In its sales report for May, the automaker predicts that SUVs will make up half of its worldwide sales by 2025. That may sound like a bold claim, but since the start of 2018 Audi has already sold approximately 287,500 models from its Q crossover and SUV lineup. In North America, Audi has already achieved that target too, as 51 percent of its sales stateside are SUVs.
In Europe, SUVs make up 33 percent of Audi’s sales, while 34 percent of sales in China are SUVs. Currently, Audi’s most popular SUV is the all-new Q5, which was delivered to 24,700 customers in May alone. Since the start of 2018, 125,750 examples have been sold around the world. Audi’s confidence in the SUV segment is abundantly obvious when you look at its future line-up. The Q8 coupe SUV was recently unveiled and is expected to go on sale in the US later this year. “This premium SUV is a perfect addition to the full-size segment and is the next coup in our model initiative,” said Bram Schot, board member for sales and marketing at Audi.
“Particularly in the core markets China and USA, the car will be an important sales driver and strengthen our market position.” In the next few years, the Q8 expected to be joined by a baby Q1 and a Q4 to rival the Range Rover Evoque and BMW X2. As part of its plan to launch 20 electrified vehicles by 2020, Audi is also launching the all-electric e-tron Quattro, which will be unveiled in August, along with at least two other zero-emissions SUVs.
