Wolfgang Dürheimer promises more RS models and further additions to the SUV line-up
Audi’s model expansion will include more RS performance offerings, a lightweight version of the next TT, and a greater number of Q-badged SUVs in its range, development chief Wolfgang Dürheimer has confirmed at the Geneva motor show.
The firm’s first RS-badged SUV, the RS Q3, made its debut at Geneva today, and Dürheimer said there was an appetite for even more RS Audis. New RS6 Avant and RS7 models have already been shown, and Dürheimer said “demand is growing for RS” and models like the Q3 RS exist because “the customers want them”.
“The Q3 RS is a new dimension for RS but there’s certainly room for more,” he told Autocar. “RS models demonstrate the technical edge of Audi.”
There are no current plans for a diesel RS, Dürheimer confirmed, but the firm “had a lot of additional ideas” on future RS models, as well as a greater number of S models in its range.
Dürheimer said that although Audi was now fully committed to future technologies, such as electric cars and hybrids through models like the A3 e-tron, another Geneva debut, there would still always be high-performance Audi models in the range.
“We’re covering a complete range of cars and technologies,” he said. “There will be people who purely want green technology, but there are also those who achieve and want something with a lot of power like the RS7 or Q7.”
One future model close to being signed off is a lightweight version of the next-generation TT, with a target weight of 1000kg. “Such a car would be very exciting and sporty,” said Dürheimer. “We already have the right engines and it’s a project we’re working on.”
Dürheimer said he saw “a very good future” for a production version of the Audi Crosslane Coupé concept from the Paris motor show last year, a model said to show Audi’s thinking for a Q2.
“There is more room for Q models,” said Dürheimer.