The automotive industry is in full flux. And Audi is now preparing to keep up with e-mobility – earlier than previously planned. One consequence: the end of Audi models with internal combustion engines is approaching – unstoppable.
Audi is announcing the end of combustion engines in 2035. Wait … it should be ready in 2032. No, 2026 will finally be over. In the past few days, the news about the Ingolstadt-based automotive company’s e-offensive has almost rolled over. Time for a little classification of how things are actually now.
HOW LONG WILL CARS WITH COMBUSTION ENGINES REMAIN ATTRACTIVE?
In the “Auto Motor & Sport” magazine, Audi Chief Development Officer Oliver Hoffmann recently announced that in 2030, around 50 percent of all new registrations in large markets such as the USA and China will be vehicles with classic combustion engines. Sounds anything but optimistic that cars with electrified drives will soon play an increased role at Audi. And this, although a kind of turning point has long been heralded with the new Audi e-tron GT , for example .
One thing is clear: the end of the long-established generation of vehicles that blow CO 2 into the air day in and day out has heralded. The German federal government is already trying to make the switch to the electric car attractive to motorists with the environmental bonus and tax breaks. And the fact that the CO 2 price will continue to rise sharply in the coming years is also considered to have been resolved ; especially if the Greens do so well in the federal election in September that they become part of a new German government. The refueling of classic cars will be more expensive – but to a higher commuter tax will be at least partially offset by the will of the CDU boss Armin Laschet in shape.
AUTO BOSS CLEARLY HAS THE END OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES IN MIND
So it is hardly surprising that Audi boss Markus Duesmann has completely different plans in mind according to “Automobilwoche” . He wants to present a new generation of cars with combustion engines for the last time in 2026. From 2027 Audi only wants to present new electric cars. Even hybrid models are reportedly being sidelined at Audi in around five years at the latest.
Of course, the new Audi products with gasoline and diesel engines presented until 2026 will remain available from dealers until the beginning or perhaps even until the mid-2030s – but by the end of the current decade they are likely to fall out of the marketing prioritization. The last Audi with a gasoline engine is to roll off the assembly line in an Audi plant in 2032. As things stand, the sale will end in 2035. By then, at the latest, Audi would be a purely electric car brand like Tesla is already today.
According to “Automobilwoche” it is already clear that the Audi A3 and Audi A4 will no longer have a combustion engine successor. They will be replaced directly by suitable e-tron models in the coming years. Since the A3 and A4 are volume models that run well, this move is pretty substantial.
INDUSTRY IN RADICAL CHANGE
The example of Audi is an impressive example of how quickly the industry is currently changing. Other German premium manufacturers are already working diligently on future strategies and are preparing for the imminent end of combustion engines; which, for example, Volvo has long since decided . Volkswagen is already documenting this very impressively with models such as the ID.3 or the ID.4 GTX , and BMW is also attacking with models such as the luxury SUV iX or the BMW i4 . And at Mercedes-Benz, too, the changing times have been recognized and this year alone the EQA , EQB , EQC and EQS e-modelspresented. And an electrified van model ( EQT ) is already in the starting blocks.
