With The 4×4 market is booming, more and more brands are being encouraged to launch their own SUV, especially in an electric key as well demonstrated by the new Hummer EV, the Rivian R1S or the future Mercedes EQG. And now it is Audi who wants to join this party, considering the possibility of launching an all-electric SUV that becomes the best 4×4 Audi has made to datealso serving to give a new vision to the quattro all-wheel drive.
The Volkswagen group is working on different approaches to address its total electrificationone of the most interesting being the one related to the purchase of the Scout brand in 2021. This acquisition by the German group seeks to put a specialized off-road firm on the streets, focused on the American market and doing so with large SUVs, SUVs and pick-ups that will be on the streets from 2026.
However, this ambitious bet could end up benefiting other brands in the group, such as Audi. According to recent statements by Marc Lichte as Audi’s head of design to the British media Coachin Ingolstadt they are considering new ideas for what will be their SUV range in the future, highlighting the intention to create an electric SUV capable of competing directly with the Mercedes G-Class and Land Rover Defender in their respective electric versions.
Scheduled for release in 2027this model would not be manufactured from the MEB+, PPE or SSP platforms, but rather would be built from the new platform that is being developed for the relaunch of Scout. We are therefore talking about a large Audi, equipped with a chassis of longitudinal members and cross members, with a new generation of the system of quattro all-wheel drive equipped with up to 4 independent electric motors and with a clearly premium approach as the Defender and G-Class defend well.
In the absence of Volkswagen deciding between Magna and Foxconn for the manufacture of the entire range of Scout, the selection of one of these companies would be made considering the manufacturing plans for the new electric SUV from Audi, thus achieving a production of 150,000 cars a year, 50,000 of them corresponding to Audi’s 4×4.