Audi will discontinue the TT after the current model year.
We saw this one coming for quite some time. Audi’s peppy and sporty TT has seen its fortunes steadily decline over its two-decade run, and although it saw a brief renaissance after the third-gen released in the US in 2016, sales were down almost 45% in 2018, and 2019 is looking even worse.
So it is with a heavy heart that Audi announces the discontinuation of their beloved bubble car, the TT. There will be no subsequent TT after the 2019 model year.
However, this doesn’t mean that small, sporty Audis will disappear entirely. Speaking at the Audi annual shareholders meeting in Neckarsulm, Germany last Thursday, CEO Bram Schot revealed that the TT’s replacement will come in the form of an electric sports car.
“There will be lots of things that we won’t do anymore in the future, or things that we do less,” Schot said, according to Bloomberg. “We focus maximum resources on our key projects.”
Audi has big plans to replace its fleet of vehicles with electric versions, with 20 EVs for 2020 and an astounding 30 EVs by 2025. It’s enough to make you wonder just where Audi plans to get all those EVs from.
At least one of them will be the TT’s replacement. We don’t know much about what that replacement could look like, although it may also replace Audi’s other aging sports car, the venerable R8. Audi is still on the fence there and determining if the R8, too, will see its final year of sales.
Praised for its balance and handling, the TT has seen its sales erode to rivals BMW and fellow Volkswagen-AG company Porsche. With most of VW brands embracing an electrified future, both Porsche and Audi are considering a smaller lineup filled with electric cars.
Audi also announced that they would begin operation of a rental car service in Europe with partner company Sixt SE. Customers are able to book a car for one hour or one year using a phone app. The service begins in late 2019.