Audi’s Annual Press Conference: How Feels Tomorrow?
Ingolstadt is a busy town today. Audi AG has invited more than 300 journalists for its annual press conference. The brand presented their financial reviews of the last year, as well as showcased new technologies that will be used in their future cars.
Even if the European car market is stagnating, Audi made $8.191 billion dollars. They invested this money soundly, opening new plants in Hungary and China, while planning the construction of even more in Mexico and Brazil. For 2013, the German manufacturer sold 1,575,480 cars worldwide.
During the conference, Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for Technical Development, hinted at future products in the Audi lineup.
They will launch the Q7 later this year, refuting the rumors saying that a last-minute problem would delay production. 2014 will also see the A8 undergo major changes, just in time to keep up with Mercedes-Benz's all-new S-Class. Audi's new flagship will feature a "piloting system", which will allow the car to drive itself in "stop-go" driving situation.
But the most interesting piece of news from this conference is the return of a concept that was launched a few years back, and then axed because of cost issues: the full-electric R8, still unfortunately named e-tron. The development team took a long look at the prototypes, and made numerous improvements. They upgraded the batteries, and found a much more efficient way of packaging them. The result is a dramatic increase in range, going from 215 to 449 km. There is no price range (although we know they will only make them on special order) and no release date on the e-tron. Audi may even wait for the next generation of the R8, since it is due next year.
So the e-tron is coming, we just don't know when it will drop by. The future looks good for Audi, and for the electric supercar market!