Monday, January 12, 2015
Audi Unveils New Q-7 SUV, Highlights Growth in Crossover Segments
DETROIT – Audi of America made the worldwide premiere of its new 2016 Audi Q7 sport-utility vehicle at the 2015 North American International Auto Show here today, presaging a year of the “Q” which also will feature a new version of the company’s Q3 compact SUV and continued sales of the mid-size Q5 model that is Audi’s best-selling vehicle in the U.S. market.
Q3 and Q5 are the global market leaders in their segments, said Luca de Meo, member of the Audi board of management for sales and marketing. Last year marked the first time that Audi sold more Q5 models in the U.S. than anything else. Since Audi introduced Q7 in the U.S. market in 2006, he said, the company has sold more than two millions SUVs and crossovers worldwide.
“Global SUV demand is growing at three times the rate of the global market overall,” de Meo said. And, said Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of management of Audi AG, nearly every third Audi sold is a Q model.
The new Q7 represents a significant overhaul of the current model. It will feature substantial enhancements in the Audi connect infotainment platform. Featuring an all-new chassis and a lightweighted, multi-material body, the new Q7 will comprise both the most spacious, and the lightest, model in its segment in the luxury market, said Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Audi board of management for technical development. Audi took more than 700 pounds out of the previous Q7.
Audi also introduced an upgraded new version of the Q3 in Detroit, sporting the brand’s first execution of a “3-D” single-frame grill, de Meo said, and offering a range of powertrain options that provide from 120 horsepower to 220 horsepower.
Beginning next year, Audi will supply Q5s for the entire global market from a plant it is building in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, Stadler noted.
The company’s U.S. sales last year grew almost three times more proportionally than the general market did, Stadler noted. In 2014, Audi worldwide sales of 1.74 million units were up by more than 10 percent from a year earlier. Audi sale in each region of the world, he said, grew faster last year than general sales in the respective markets.
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