Global brand but local cars are Audi’s future, says CEO

MUNICH—One of the most popular automotive trends at the beginning of the 21st century was country, or country, car. Spreading development costs across multiple markets, the thinking went, and success took care of the rest. At least that was the idea; post-COVID, post-Alwaysand in a world that is exploding now trade wars and real shooting battlesplans must change.

“With Audi we have to be globally flexible,” said Audi AG CEO Gernot Döllner, and the new Q9 is an example of that. “It is indeed a car that the needs of the US were at the center of the product development process. It has been presented to the US for the first time. The global launch, not in Europe and then the US. And for the Q9, it is the first US and then it also controls the amount we expect with the US American market. Then after the US, we will have the global launch of the car,” he said.

Yes, that means bigger and better cup holders that can hold the closed cups that everyone should have, as seen in Q9. But it also means paying more attention to things like JD Power surveys and so on. For example, on the Q9, “we redesigned the smart doors we have in our A5, A6, and Q5 cars and went back to the dedicated switches, optimized the interior cooling, and stay, the concept of the roof, all of which are of great customer interest,” said Döllner.

“We will certainly be able to keep Europe and the US together when it comes to medicine. And we will do this by listening very carefully to US customers, because I learned that earlier in my work, that there is no problem in Europe with medicine that is perfect for the US, but sometimes it is another way around a little difficulty, which is absolutely fine,” he said.