glorious

Five years have passed but the market has changed at a devilish speed. Like the rubber band of a slingshot, the automobile industry has tightened to the point of shooting in all directions with a lack of control like we have never experienced before. In 2021, Audi announced that it was abandoning the development of gasoline and diesel engines. The reason was very simple: fines. According to their calculations, the limits expected with Euro 7 and the restrictions regarding emissions planned by 2025 they were so strict that it was not worth continuing to invest money in combustion engines. Those days, brands were in a race to get on the electric car bandwagon. With Tesla starting to gain traction and the European Union placing more and more obstacles on gasoline and diesel cars, electric seemed like the future. But everything has blown up. In Europe, the embrace of the electric car has been delayed more than expected and in China, once loyal buyers of Western cars, have embraced the local product. That clamp has caused Audi to be left in no man’s land. Now they are determined to regain ground and the Audi Q9 is the latest example of this. Audi Q9 technical sheet Audi Q9 BODY TYPE. Six or seven-seater SUV MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHT. 5.31 meters long, 2.21 meters wide, 1.81 meters high and 3.14 meters wheelbase. 2,605kg TRUNK. 700 liters with two rows of seats Size not specified with three rows of seats deployed MAXIMUM POWER. 299 HP WLTP CONSUMPTION. 7.4 l/100 km according to the WLTP cycle. ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTIVE. ECHO DRIVING AIDS (ADAS). Adaptive cruise control with the possibility of hands-free driving in Germany, the United States and Canada. Cross traffic alert with pedestrian and cyclist detection. Parking and trailer maneuvering assistance. OTHERS. Software built on Android Automotive. Matrix lights with laser technology. Bang & Olufsen sound system with 22 speakers. Triple screen with 11.9-inch instrument panel, 14.5-inch central screen and 12.3-inch passenger screen. ELECTRIC HYBRID. Yes, microhybrid with 299 HP 3.0 V6 TDI diesel engine. Plug-in HYBRID. No. electric No. price and release Now available from 126,000 euros. Looking across the Atlantic In this commitment to the electric car, the Volkswagen Group immersed itself in practically complete electrification, but the rush led them to a complex space. The MEB platforms arrived first but, at the same time, they developed a second platform called PEE that came to give rise to the new Audi Q6 e-tron and the Porsche Macantwo electric cars with which they hoped to gain market share. The most curious thing about the project is that this platform had only been developed for two cars, an extraordinary investment that would not have continuity because the objective was to unite all the group’s cars in the future SSP. That hodgepodge of platforms It caused constant delays at Cariad, his company dedicated to software development, which in turn ended up delaying the Porsche and Audi SUVs. At the same time, the Chinese market was being completely transformed. What was an almost infinite fishing ground for potential clients has become little less than a desert for Western firms. At least for those that offer the same products as in the West. The reasons are very simple: very expensive prices and a technological proposal from the past. That’s why Audi is selling cars in China that, in reality, are not Audi. Even though we read Audi on the front. The German company’s rivals took two paths. Mercedes clearly opted for the electric car. Like Audi’s e-tron, the EQs were part of a family of their own. And in both cases the result in sales has been discreet. Instead, BMW seems to have hit the mark. While reserving 10,000 million euros (10,000 million euros!) to develop a new generation of electric cars, they were clear that combustion engines were going to continue to have life. Target: people with a lot of money. Over the years, Audi and Mercedes have had to reverse. Both companies have seen their sales in China plummet. That, which is already a problem in itself, has not been accompanied by the expected increase in electric sales in Europe. If we add to that that the United States is clearly betting on the combustion market and that there is no change in sight in the short term, both companies have put on the handbrake and have recalculated their strategy. In the case of Audi, it is clearly going through repositioning the brand. It is not only about selling combustion engines over electric cars, it is about giving back to the company part of a prestige that has been damaged. The company, for example, has lost its Audi A8 with which to compete against the Mercedes S-Class and the BMW 7 Series. And the worst of all is that he left without making a sound.. Having recalculated the strategy with electric vehicles, the Volkswagen Group seems to be clear that it has to raise the level of the company. The first and clearest example was the Audi Concept C. Last year they presented a coupe that played with the school’s own lines Bauhaus. German sentiment that looked to the past to lay the foundations for the future. Aluminum and simple shapes to recover the two-seater sports car. It will be electric, yes, but also It is the resurrection of a formula that seemed lost. A halo car to attract the customer that should share a platform with the successor to the Porsche Cayman and that, above all, tastes like Audi TT. with that same design languageAudi recently presented the Audi Nuvolaria plug-in hybrid supercar that will be limited to 499 units based on the Lamborghini Temerario. The movement, again, is that of a clear commitment to greening the past and remember that one day There was an Audi R8 that left us speechless for years. Now, it is the Audi Q9 that comes to write a new chapter in the company’s history. Until now, the Audi … Read more