3 days ago
21
The German car maker has pushed production of its new entry-level electric vehicle – the Q2 e-tron SUV – forward to 2026.
Electric Cars
Audi has confirmed it will begin production of its smallest and most affordable electric vehicle – signalling the first Audi Q2 e-tron SUV – a year sooner than previously announced.
Audi CEO Gernot Dollner has told German publication Sueddeutsche Zeitung the car maker’s new entry-level electric mode will go into production in 2026 instead of its previous 2027 timing.
“It will be an electric vehicle in the class in which the [Audi] A3 is also located,” Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Mr Dollner as saying, suggesting the vehicle is not an electric hatch/sedan but instead an SUV.
Audi has previously committed to producing an electric SUV “in every major segment” and while the German car maker started with the Q8 e-tron large SUV it is yet to introduce a small electric SUV.
The Audi Q8 e-tron large SUV is being phased out after the closure of the Brussels, Belgium factory where it was built in February 2025, with the upcoming Q6 e-tron effectively replacing it ahead an e-tron version of the unconfirmed super-sized Audi Q9 SUV.
The third – and currently smallest electric SUV in Audi showrooms – is the small-to-mid-size Q4 e-tron SUV.
This leaves room for a lower cost, smaller entry-level model – the Audi Q2 e-tron SUV – making Audi the only ‘western’ brand to offer electric SUVs across all four segments – albeit now only three for now with the Q8 e-tron’s exit.
The Q2 e-tron would also not have a direct electric rival but could compete with the Lexus UX300e electric SUV.
Audi already makes an electric Q2 in China for the domestic market – the Audi Q2 L e-tron (L for long wheelbase) introduced in 2019 – but it missed out on a facelift given to the petrol Q2 line-up in 2021.
The China Q2 L e-tron uses the existing MQB platform, but in making a new Q2 e-tron for global markets Drive understands the Volkswagen ID.2 electric hatch’s ‘MEB Entry’ platform may be used.
The previously mooted Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) will not be ready until at least 2028 and will underpin an electric Volkswagen Golf expected the following year.
Given the cost-reduction drive at Audi following slow sales in 2024, the MEB Entry platform is also attractive being low cost, production ready and configurable in rear- and all-wheel-drive.
It will be used on other Volkswagen Group products including Skoda and Cupra models.
At its March 2025 Annual Press Conference, Audi announced it had abandoned previous plans to sell only electric cars by 2032 and did not say when it expected to completely drop internal combustion engines.
In 2025, Audi Australia will see an influx of fresh models including a new generation of the brand’s most popular model, the Q5 SUV.
Electric Cars Guide
