Audi Q1 to boost sales in Oz

Audi has made no secret of its desire to be the number one German prestige brand not only in Australia, but globally. One of the ways it plans to do this – just as its rivals are doing – is to introduce more SUVs. Big ones, sporty ones, and perhaps most importantly, compact and affordable SUVs.

The Audi Q1 will be Ingolstadt's smallest SUV to date, slotting in underneath the Q3 and expected to be roughly the size of a small car, like an Audi A3 or a Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

Audi is currently playing third fiddle to BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the Australian new car sales race, despite continuing to post significant growth. But as Audi Australia's general manager, corporate communications, Anna Burgdorf told motoring.com.au, cars like the Q1 will be crucial to reigning in its German rivals.

"Yes, it's coming here [but] I don't know the timing for Australia. Production starts early next year, I think it certainly will [grow sales].

"So a new Q1 will help us grow again when the next generation [SUVs] like the Q5, Q7 and Q3 come, again we'll see sales increasing. I think as long as we continue to offer quality, which is what we're known for, strong performance and a strong package, we'll continue to make inroads."

It'll be priced well under $40,000 as the Q3 starts at $42,300, and will herald a design step-change that will eschew the conservative exterior styling of most modern-day Audis, such as the new A4, in a bid to appeal to younger buyers.

"In general, as a brand we've shown that our [design] thinking is far more evolutionary than potentially revolutionary. But I think there's scope in completely new models, like a Q1, to be radically different. Because it's fresh, the first of its kind, and [has to] appeal to a younger target demographic."

The compact SUV will be winging its way to Australia after its international launch in 2016. Here the Q1 is expected to lead a sales charge for the company, followed up by the Q6 in 2018 and the Q8 in 2019.

Audi's important new baby SUV could be revealed in Europe this year, potentially at the 2015 Frankfurt motor show in September. There's also talk of several different powertrain types, including petrol, diesel, e-tron (hybrid) and even electric. And you can bet your bottom dollar that an SQ1 will eventuate.

Although Burgdorf wouldn't make any predictions about the Q1's sales trajectory in the SUV paradise that is Australia, she observed that solid sales would be "fantastic".

"Any model that we can bring here that will sell as strongly as a Q5 or an A3 would be fantastic for us as a brand, to move us up that next step. I don't know yet [how it will sell] because we don't have pricing or spec developed, we don't know what our package offering will be," she admitted.

"But it will be new, it will be fresh, it'll be a strong opportunity."

The Q1 model will one of the first Audi vehicles influenced by newly installed design boss, Marc Lichte, and could set the cat among the pigeons. Naturally Mercedes-Benz and BMW won't be sitting idly by but Burgdorf says its goal of becoming the leading prestige brand is imminent.

"We can't see into the future what our competitors are planning but as long as we, as a brand, stay focussed on our goal, which is to be number one, then we'll get there. It's a global goal, not just an Australian goal. Given that we're closing the gap, particularly to BMW, it'll come."