Pesky Arrest Issue Has Audi Thinking America for New Car Launch

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Audi had hoped to unveil a new challenger to Tesla’s electric throne at a Brussels marketing event, but the ill-timed arrest of its former CEO forced the automaker to shelve those plans. Rupert Stadler remains in custody, casting a dark cloud over the brand and the vehicle its engineers spent years developing.

What to do? Apparently, the solution involves bundling the car into a plane and sending it to America.

Audi was expecting to debut its 2019 E-Tron crossover — a conventionally-styled electric vehicle designed to woo premium-minded, ecologically sensitive family types — on August 30th. As the vehicle’s assembly plant is in Brussels, it was only natural to hold the splashy reveal there, too.

According to Automotive News Europe, invitations had already been mailed out by the time German authorities slapped the cuffs on Stadler, who’s being held in Munich on suspicion of fraud and evidence tampering.

Now, Audi claims it will unveil the vehicle, the first of a line of E-Tron-branded electric vehicles, at a “summit” in the United States. The automaker cited “organizational reasons” for the kiboshed reveal, providing no date or location.

As it collects advance orders in several European markets, Audi says the vehicle’s market launch hasn’t been impacted by the deferred debut. “The e-tron will have its market launch at the end of the year,” an Audi spokesperson told Automotive News Europe. “Nothing has changed.”

The two-row E-Tron is said to travel up to 250 miles on the juice contained within its 95 kWh battery pack. A prototype debuted in Geneva earlier this year. Following the 2019 E-Tron’s introduction, Sportback and GT variants will appear over the next two years, giving the likes of Tesla and Mercedes-Benz a worthy competitor in the fledgling premium EV crossover field.

[Images: Audi AG]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Jun 26, 2018

    Are they gonna check to make sure that anyone they send over doesn't have any outstanding warrants in the US? :-)

    • Brettc Brettc on Jun 26, 2018

      They should round up Martin Winterkorn from whatever Caribbean island he's hiding out on and send him over for funsies.

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Jun 26, 2018

    It reminds me wave of "iPhone killers" from reputable traditional companies popping up every week in the end of 2000s. I personally worked on some of them from Moto, Toshiba, Sharp and LG. All based on Android OS. iPhone is still alive and doing well.

  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
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