The German premium brand Audi is seriously exploring the ground for entering a completely new niche for it, exploring the possibility of launching an SUV with increased off-road capabilities. In Ingolstadt, they are very impressed by the unstoppable boom in adventure crossovers overseas, where buyers have literally gone crazy for machines with a combat appearance and increased cross-country ability.
Audi CEO Gernot Dölner openly admitted that the company is analyzing in detail the potential of a more extreme, “muddy“ version for its lifted models. According to him, the US market is extremely diverse and specific – What sells like hot cakes in sunny California may not be of interest to farmers in Nebraska. However, the fact is that the off-road segment is currently experiencing a real renaissance, and the market success of tough modifications such as Honda's Trailsport and Subaru's Wilderness is too tasty a bite to pass up.
The brand with the four rings is already ready to respond to this wave. Remember the brutal Q6 E-Tron Off-Road concept that the Germans showed last year? The electric monster boasted a full 16 centimeters higher ground clearance and a 25-centimeter track compared to the standard crossover. It turns out that many of these aggressive engineering and design decisions can be very easily and painlessly transferred to the serial conveyor line.
The Bentley cousins within the Volkswagen Group have already tried a similar recipe with the adventure prototype based on the Bentayga. The reaction was immediate – right after the premiere, dealers and wealthy customers literally overwhelmed the company with requests for serial production.
In fact, for Ingolstadt, such an exercise would be child's play! To breathe a real adventurous spirit into one of the current Q-models, it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel – it is enough to re-tune the suspension, install more durable shock absorbers and put on serious all-terrain tires with a deeper grip. This pragmatic formula already works flawlessly with mass Japanese players. The truth is that the modern buyer adores rough, adventurous design and is ready to pay for it, even if the most serious off-roading in his life is limited to climbing city curbs or parking in front of the ski lift.