Audi has an interesting conundrum on its hands. The German automaker is in the midst of launching new hybrid vehicles – the green technology preferred by Americans – but the automaker’s diesel offerings, which are growing in the U.S., are actually more efficient.
Rather than try to change the mindset of most Americans, Audi has instead decided to alter its green strategy. The automaker will position its diesel offerings as performance vehicles in the U.S., leaving hybrids to occupy the green space.
That strategy has taken some real planning, though, and will see some of Audi’s diesel and hybrid models limited to the European market.
For example, Audi has decided to send its 3.0L dieseled-power Q5 to the U.S. rather than its 2.0L diesel version to uphold that hybrid hierarchy. The 3.0L engine is about 10 percent less efficient than the Q5 Hybrid headed to U.S. Dealerships, while the 2.0L Q5 is about 3 percent more efficient than the hybrid.
Similar reasoning will prevent Audi from marketing its new A8 Hybrid in the United States. Audi has already committed to selling its 39.2mpg A8 3.0L diesel in the U.S., which would overshadow the 36.8mpg A8 Hybrid.
“We therefore have decided not to do the hybrid in the A8 for the U.S.,” Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen told WardsAuto.
Audi says it will continue to grow its hybrid portfolio in the U.S., but that “the mainstay is going to be diesel technology.”
