Oliver Blume is the new head of the Volkswagen group. The former Porsche man chaired a general meeting of shareholders a few hours ago, where he made some interesting statements that have focused on Audi, of which he says he has been disappointed in recent years. Blume believes that the German firm is not as cutting-edge as it should be.
"At the forefront of technology is", the motto of Audi explodes in the form of an arsenal of security technology, especially in its models. However, for a long time, the brand with the four rings has not been able to lead the sales ranking worldwide and surpass BMW and Mercedes. Its two top German competitors are always far ahead, something that the new boss of the German giant does not allow and dislikes.
Oliver Blume, who seized the throne of the Wolfsburg group by precipitating the departure of Herbert Diess, released a great pearl almost a year ago, taking advantage of a recent meeting with shareholders, putting the luxury brand in the spotlight. The Ingolstadt firm is not going through one of its best moments, especially in the field of electric cars. The Audi Q8 e-trans were a commercial success in its earlier stage when they were in limbo in the product range, but since it underwent its facelift, its sales have been reduced considerably.
BMW and Mercedes have more electricity than Audi in their ranges
Blume points very clearly, pointing out especially the lack of competitiveness of Audi in this field compared to those of Munich and the Star, capable of building a range of zero-emission models in record time, and without a response from the German brand which only has the Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tronSportback. In the pipeline are the Q6 e-tron and A6 Sportback e-tron, but these will not land until next year.
The SUV will debut at the Munich Motor Show and the sports sedan that will fill the gap for the A7 Sportback will do so in 2024, so it will not reach dealerships until the second half of next year. And nothing is known about the famous Landjet project, the replacement for the A8 that should have hit the market this year, leaving its rivals free reign. Blume has pointed out that “We have not sufficiently protected [Audi's] progressive leadership role against the competition. The footprint of the group currently depends, to a large extent, on China, and the range of electrics in particular is not competitive enough.
Audi has to wake up in the face of great pressure from Chinese brands
Although he acknowledges that one of the big problems that have caused a significant delay of about a year in the launch of the Audi Q6 e-tron is due to its new software, Blume is convinced that the manufacturer has to take a very firm step forward. , entrusting Markus Duesmann to accelerate the development of new electric vehicles. In other words, wake up, because Chinese brands like BYD and Geely have been stomping and the scare may be just around the corner.
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