Audi’s electric SUV due
in 2018 will simply be known as the “e-tron,” CEO Rupert Stadler has confirmed.
His comments signal the end of rumors the vehicle was to feature
"Q6" in the name, theorized since it will be an SUV sized between the
Q5 and Q7.
The new naming strategy mimics Audi’s introduction of its
quattro all-wheel-drive technology with the quattro sports car of 1980.
Crucially, it’s in contrast to the strategy of BMW and Mercedes-Benz which have
introduced the respective i and EQ sub-brands for their volume electric cars.
“It is comparable to the first Audi quattro, which was known
simply as the quattro,” Stadler told Autocar. “In the long
term the name e-tron will stand for a pure electricdriveline structure.”
Audi introduced the e-tron name in 2009 with an electric
concept based on its R8 supercar. Since then, we’ve seen the name appear on the
A3 and Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrids as well as the unsuccessful R8 e-tron,
officially Audi’s first electric car, which was canceled just a year after its launch.
The arrival of the e-tron SUV, previewed by 2015’s
e-tron quattro concept car, will serve as a kind of reboot for Audi’s
electric ambitions, which have intensified in the past year due to the success
of Tesla [NSDQ:TSLA], the current regulatory environment in key markets (namely
China), and of course the diesel emissions cheating scandal.
The e-tron will be followed by at least two more electric cars
by 2020. One will likely be a compact based on the MEB platform
Volkswagen will use for its production
version of the I.D. concept; it could even be a successor to the A2.
The other is expected to be a sedan, most likely based on the next-generation A7.
These additional electric cars will follow Audi’s standard naming practice, so
an electric A7, for example, would be called an A7 e-tron.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1050695_audi-electric-suv-to-be-called-the-e-tron
by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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