The first and second place in the U.S. premium segment may belong to the Germans for 2011, but while BMW and Mercedes-Benz are at the top, Audi couldn’t manage anything better than seventh place, with less than half deliveries of its rivals.
Clearly, this is far from ideal for the Ingolstadt-based carmaker since the U.S. remains the number one market for premium brands. Furthermore, Audi, which is the segment leader both in Western Europe and China, wants to overtake BMW as the number one premium brand worldwide by 2015. That’s why Audi plans to introduce more models in the U.S. market. It will start from next week’s Detroit Motor Show where it will reveal a new concept version of its Q3 crossover named “Vail”, and will follow up with a sedan version of the third-generation A3.
“The next pillar of the market that we have to conquer is the United States”, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Bloomberg News. “We see opportunities in the SUV and sedan segments”, he added.
Stadler also re-confirmed plans to resurrect the A2 premium compact, the first generation of which was discontinued after failing to meet its targets.
Moreover, despite beginning U.S. production in 2015, long after its rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Stadler said that Audi would follow their example and look into assembling SUVs and sedans at its U.S. plant.
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