VW Boss Admits Audi Is Left Behind In EV Development

JAKARTA - Volkswagen Group is one of the automotive companies that has turned its attention to the EV market. Several manufacturers standing under the group's auspices have planned to manufacture electric vehicles for the future

But among several manufacturers under the VW Group umbrella, one of which is still left behind in this segment, namely Audi. The lack of Audi in the electrification realm also received attention from Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume.

The VW boss admitted that Audi's development was quite lagging behind compared to competitors and group brothers, such as Skolda and VW. The late development was caused by problems with the software system so that it delayed Audi from launching electric cars.

"We have faced a major problem with the software causing delays in the launch of attractive electric products," Blume said, quoted by Automotive News Europe written by Motor1, Jum'at, June 23.

Software issues are nothing new for the VW Group. Last year, there were two reports highlighting behind-the-scenes technical issues. A July report last year noted that the group's software division is struggling to develop code for next-generation electric vehicles. This issue was also affected by other brands such as Porsche and Bentley that had to delay launching their new products.

In November, another report stated that VW should also delay the launch of the latest electric model, Trinity, until 2030 due to the issue.

Due to these problems, this has an effect on Audi's car sales. For the Chinese market, Audi's sales fell in the first quarter by 16 percent compared to last year.

To fix the problem, the automaker will accelerate the development of the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) for the four-ring logo brand.

What's more, the German manufacturer will launch an e-tron Q6 which offers the latest software and is based on the same Premium Platform Electric (PPE) as the Porsche Macan EV.

Although there are no specification details yet, Audi Q6 e-tron is rumored to be offering 600 dk of personnel with the RS variant. VW Group also plans to offer other high-performance BEV models to accelerate EV development.

Despite experiencing various behind-the-scenes problems, the company is not afraid to present other electric models. What's more, Audi has determined that it will present the last gasoline-engined model in 2025 and start launching a pure EV car in 2026.

Audi has also determined that it will end the production period for gasoline and diesel-engined cars globally starting in 2033 in order to bring environmentally friendly vehicles.