The ongoing rise of SUVs has claimed mostly passenger cars as its victims, although pickup trucks such as the Ford F-Series remained virtually unscathed. Various carmakers even found a way to make their trucks more interesting – by offering premium or high-spec trims, which are borderline luxury vehicles.Audi could take advantage of this scenario with a new pickup truck, a possibility that its own brand CEO has confirmed, AutoCar reports.
Audi Is Looking Into Pickup Trucks
During Audi’s annual media conference, a reporter asked brand CEO Markus Duesmann over the possibility of Audi launching a new pickup truck. He responded that while he won’t promise that Audi will introduce a pickup, he confirmed that the brand is looking into it.
Duesmann was speaking to reporters alongside the CEOs of Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati – all members of Volkswagen Group’s Premium Brand Group (a.k.a. Audi Group). Duesmann's words prompted a quip from Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark, who said he has no plans, including a pickup in their portfolio.
Duesmann added fuel to the fire when he said, “Actually, we will present – not too far from now – maybe something.” With this remark, Audi could be unveiling a pickup truck concept, which it could use to gauge market reaction to such a product.
Moreover, Duesmann could also mean Audi may soon officially announce a new luxury pickup truck.
Possibility And Feasibility Exists For An Audi Pickup
Audi’s current and recent concepts offer no hits that the German luxury brand would produce a new pickup truck. But this doesn’t mean that Audi would have a difficult time developing a new luxury pickup. After all, Audi is part of the VW Group, and the VW brand has a pickup truck on the market – the VW Amarok. VW doesn’t sell the Amarok in the United States, and Audi could build a pickup truck based on the VW model.
VW will soon give birth to the next generation of the Amarok, which will share the T6 body-on-frame platform that underpins the newest iteration of the Ford Ranger. Audi could use the same platform to develop its own luxury pickup truck, thereby saving development time and cost in the process.
Electric Station Wagon Plus Electric Pickup From Audi?
During the results presentation, Audi introduced the A6 Avant e-tron concept. This concept will pave way for the expansion of the carmaker’s electric portfolio into the station wagon segment. For the A6 Avant e-tron, Audi will employ the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE). With Audi seemingly focusing on EVs, it is possible its potential pickup truck would be an electric one.
Source: Audi, AutoCar