New Audi TT this year

Having hit its 2015 target of 1.5 million annual sales two years early, Audi has announced it will invest €22 billion ($A34b) – a new record for the company – to add a further 11 models and launch a new TT sports car this year.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler last month said his company is now targeting two million global sales per annum by 2020, by which time it will increase its range from 49 models to 60 models.

An all-new compact crossover to slot in below the Q3 – and likely to be called the Q1 -- was confirmed to be one of those models in early December ahead of its unveiling in concept form at this month’s Detroit motor show.

While all-new Q2, Q4, Q6 and even Q8 models could expand its crossover line-up to 10 (including the A4 and A6 Allroads), the second-generation Q7 is due on sale by 2015.

Spotted here in Spy pics, the new Q7 will follow the lead of the latest Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, with which its shares its platform, by shedding up to 400kg.

For lovers of Audi sports cars, however, Audi has now announced it will launch its third-generation TT this year.

Likely to make its world debut at the Geneva show in March, the next TT broke cover in both spy videos and photos in October.

Audi has already flagged its intention for the MkIII TT to reference historical design cues in the new model, and it’s clear the redesigned coupe and convertible will retain its unmistakable silhouette.

However, the spy shots indicate its body will be slightly more angular, including a lower bonnet and slimmer headlights.

Underneath, the new TT will ride on the same all-new MQB platform that underpins parent company Volkswagen’s latest Golf 7 hatchback, which is likely to bring weight and fuel consumption reductions.

In its quest to wrest luxury market leadership from German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi said 70 per cent of the investment will be spent on new models and technologies, including lightweight construction methods, vehicle networking and “electromobility”.

The rest will be spent on the expansion of production facilities around the world, including the company’s first North American plant.

Audi’s new San Jose Chiapa plant in Mexico will make the Q5 mid-sized SUV for the world from 2016, while a new plant will soon open in China, where Audi is the dominant premium brand with 460,000 sales in 2013, and a new factory in Brazil will build the A3 and Q3 from 2015.

“We are now decisively steering towards our next milestone of two million deliveries,” said Stadler.

“This is why we are keeping our foot on the gas regarding investments and why we are hiring new employees in 2014.”

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