Premium brands have rarely dipped their toes into the niche off-road SUV market, but recent booms in sales for carmakers who have done so have previewed what’s to come in the near future.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen has been offered in hot AMG guise for more than a quarter of a century, while the Land Rover Defender recently pivoted into the luxury space without losing its off-road ability.
Now, Audi is eyeing up the segment, with CEO Gernot Döllner offering hints at what could be in the German marque’s future model lineups.
“That’s someday thinkable,” Döllner told US publication Car and Driver, when asked if Audi will return to the supercar space.
“The perfect thing is that I can imagine an Audi from the A2, [a] very efficient city car, to a super sports car, from a small SUV to a rugged SUV in the US, that would also fit the Audi brand.”
It’s not the first time Döllner has spoken on the record about a rugged SUV being in Audi’s plans, after Automobilwoche reported on the potential off-roader late last year.
At the time, the executive said Audi “haven’t given up on that dream” of launching a rival to the G-Wagen and Defender.
Rather than be based on an existing Audi platform, the publication reported the new large SUV would be underpinned by architecture from Scout, the new US-focused Volkswagen subsidiary.
At the time, the report claimed the Audi off-road SUV would be offered with a range-extender powertrain, meaning an engine would only serve to charge the on-board battery, which powers the electric motors driving the wheels.
This would not only benefit Audi by allowing it to use an existing platform, but also assist Scout in recouping the development costs through economies of scale.
Audi may be one of a few brands looking to enter the segment, after another report last year claimed BMW will launch its own take on the G-Wagen formula in 2029, and do so with the familiar underpinnings of the popular X5 SUV.
Codenamed ‘G74’ and built in the US, the ‘Rugged’ – its name, according to BMW Blog – will reportedly be tougher than the X5 both in appearance and off-road capability, though like the Mercedes 4×4 it’s expected to retain some luxury trimmings.
Likewise Genesis unveiled the X Gran Equator concept in April last year, and its executives have been more than a little excited about the prospect of it going into production.
“I do believe that there is room for that,” Donkerwolke told Australian media, including Torquecafe.
“The X Gran Equator is a new potential addition to a lineup which is already quite big. In a couple of years we have reached a family of SUVs, quite a lot. And we have shown last year there’s another one coming, a flagship SUV, very soon.
“So now the question is: how do we position the Gran Equator within this lineup? How do we ensure there’s not going to be an overlap or cannibalisation between those vehicles?
“The Gran Equator was designed by my team in a very short time,” he explained. “Like all the other projects, I make sure that my engineering team is involved in the project, so that those projects are feasible, so that we don’t have to face any big hurdles…
“So that from the technical point-of-view the platform works, the technical side works. Now is obviously the demand.”
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