2 weeks Ago By Sam Charlwood
has all but confirmed the will go into early retirement in Australia following news of the carmaker's upcoming Belgium factory closure. or signup to continue reading It was reported last week that the German manufacturer will that currently produces the on February 28, 2025, in the wake of slowing sales numbers. Speaking with at the local unveiling of the smaller new , Audi Australia managing director Jeff Mannering said the decision created uncertainty around the Q8 e-tron's long-term future in Australia.
He said that even if Audi committed to continuing Q8 e-tron production beyond the Brussels plant closure, the smaller Q6 e-tron could soon fill its sales void anyway. "Whether we continue to offer that model is something we're still discussing," Mr Mannering said of the Q8 e-tron's post-February future. "Looking at that segment, the volume is probably in a different price segment to where our Q8 e-tron is.
That model still has another two years to run, so it depends on the next-generation Q8 and where it gets built." The Q8 e-tron has been built in Brussels ever since it hit the market as Audi's first mass-market EV in 2019 – wearing the simpler 'Audi e-tron' nameplate. However, electric vehicle (EV) sales will take on greater importance in Audi Australia's operations from 2025, when they will help offset CO2 emissions of the brand's combustion-powered models amid the upcoming New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which will make sales volumes of individual EVs more critical than before.
Asked whether he would like to continue to offer the Q8 e-tron in Australia, Mr Mannering said: "It's not our biggest volume now, because of the price position now, because of the price position that it's in, and the segment that it's in. "If it's there, and it's selling, we'll keep it. But if Q6 proves to be a resounding success – which I'm sure it will be – it's the same offset anyway.
" The new Audi Q6 e-tron and its sportier SQ6 e-tron sister model represent a significant development leap over the older Q8 e-tron. They will introduce a more advanced new dedicated electric vehicle architecture dubbed PPE and denser batteries that offer faster charging and WLTP driving ranges of around 600km, depending on the variant. "It's an evolution of technology and it's exponentially growing and improving all the time.
It's a bit like if you still had an iPhone 8 – you would probably say the same thing," said Mr Mannering. "[But] Eighty per cent of our customers are doing home charging, and they're travelling 50km a day on average. I don't believe range is as big an issue as it once was.
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