Diesel right fuel for Oz

Audi will join its stablemate Volkswagen as a vocal champion of diesel Down Under. That's the news from the brand's local marketing chief, Immo Buschmann.

Talking at last week's launch of the turbodiesel TT (Australia's first diesel sportscar -- more here), Buschmann was clear in his message -- expect to see and hear more from Audi on diesel.

"You'll see us as a company as a whole talking much more about TDI," he told the Carsales Network.

Buschmann says much of Audi's recent global success can be laid at the feet of the brand's wide range of diesel-powered models. It's a trend being repeated locally. And with the arrival of the TT oiler, the company essentially offers a diesel option in almost every mainstream segment it competes.

"You will probably be saying, Buschmann, you guys don't have a R8 diesel. I know we don't but we've shown one and we've proven we can do it because this engine has won Le Mans three times and we placed the engine into an R8 and showcased that car and we're currently testing the acceptance... I'm [therefore] very comfortable in saying we have a TDI in every single segment," the marketing boss opined.

Buschmann continued:  "It's [Audi's local growth] because of diesel. The strategic cultivation of the [Audi] brand is about choice. In 2004 we had a three per cent share of TDI. In the first six months of 2009 it has grown to 36 per cent -- a 12-fold increase.

"That's a clear indication to us that diesel is an acceptable concept for Australia and that people are starting to understand it.

"We at Audi Australia believe diesel is the best and better option for Australia compared to other technologies out there positioned as environmentally friendly and fuel efficient

"It is demand and supply driven [but]... it's not a marketing thing. We intrinsically believe that diesel is the best thing out there at the moment for Australia. That's why we're so comfortable putting it in every model line."

Buschmann says that more diesels offered translates to more sold, but argues the sheer volume of sales is a strong indicator of acceptance.

"The growth is correlated [to more models] in that sense. But what is extremely impressive is after the first six months of the year [2009] we're nearly on a par with [total diesel volume] of the previous year," Buschmann explained.

"A lot of people think it's the more economical [price wise] cars [that are selling]... The small ones. On the contrary, it's the bigger ones.

"Of course SUVs cannot exist in a market without diesel in the current times, but if you look at the A6, A5 and A8... The A5 is an emotional coupe and it is 41 per cent diesel [Ed: 34 per cent of A4 sales are TDI]. The A8 [is] 97 per cent diesel -- corporate business realises it's much more economical; much more environmental friendly; and a much better proposition."

Buschmann confirmed Audi will offer TDI variants of its A5 Cabriolet due later this year and will also launch a diesel performance flagship for the Q7 range. Featuring a V12 turbodiesel engine, the uber-SUV will compete against petrol performance softroaders like BMW's just announced X5M and Porsche's Cayenne GTS. At least two turbodiesel-engined variants of the A5 Sportback will hit Aussie shores sometime in 2010 too.

He won't rule out the arrival of a diesel R8 (pictured) either.

"I'm pretty sure the R&D resources we have are not focused on the R8 V12 [diesel] -- they are probably focused on other models at the moment, but I wouldn't say the project is dead," he teased.

What isn't set in stone is whether Audi will widen its low-emission TDIe range Down Under. Indeed, recent reports that the A4 2.0 TDIe would arrive Down Under before the end of 2009 are incorrect, Audi staffers say.

When asked whether the plans had been stalled, Audi's head of corporate communications, Anna Burgdorf, told the Carsales Network: "It's not so much that it's stalled or gone back -- it's still under discussion.

"The important thing with us... is our fuel efficiency with our normal cars is so good it's not always necessary to resort to that [TDIe models]. Is it going to be significantly different enough that our customers are going say let's choose TDIe over TDI? The things we need to consider is what is the differential? What are the fuel savings? Is there enough of a market for the car?" Burgdorf told the Carsales Network.

Buschmann says even if the TDIe range is increased from the singleton A3 1.9 TDIe model, the 'green' badge will not be marketed as a sub-brand.

"There's no confusion with the issue. We're not looking at launching a sub-brand of 'e'... We're investigating [other e models] and we would like to have [A4e] in here. We're currently tracking [A3 TDIe] sales but at the moment we want to concentrate on the models we have in the marketplace," he said.

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