Better late than never for Audi Q7 SUV
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
German premium carmaker Audi AG recently announced it would start delivering its own sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Audi Q7, by November 2005, somewhat later than its competitors.
Other premium car makers, mostly German brands, have already launched their own SUVs and have enjoyed successful sales. Among these competitors are the BMW X5 and the smaller X3, Mercedes Benz with its G and M Class models, the Porsche Cayenne and the Volkswagen Touareg.
Swedish carmaker Volvo has its popular XC90, bringing fierce competition to the premium SUV segment.
Audi is part of the Volkswagen group, along with other premium brands such as Bentley and Lamborghini.
Audi AG board member for sales and marketing Ralph Weyler admitted that Audi might have been late in joining the SUV race.
"It could have been much, much earlier, but there were other priorities for such a fast-moving car company like Audi. We had a sales volume of only about 300,000 cars nearly 10 years ago and now we are selling nearly 800,000 cars," he told The Jakarta Post last Thursday in Singapore.
"With such a rapid increase you cannot do everything at the same time, so you have to concentrate on particular products."
Weyler said Audi concentrated on its A8, which was at the top of its range, and the A6, which was the "bread and butter" of the German automaker's business.
"You are right that we are late, but we also have the advantage of skipping all the problems or overcome faults faced by others with SUVs.
"We could have been earlier. We have all the genes of an SUV: We have quattro, rally sports history and now we have design competence that we never had before," Weyler said, conceding that SUVs were important products, as they accounted for about half of the U.S. market.
The Audi Q7 was officially unveiled at the recently concluded 2004 Paris Motor Show, Audi chairman Martin Winterkorn said on the sidelines of the show.
"The letter Q denotes a new type family within our company, alongside the A, S and RS. The 7 indicates that it is positioned between the A6 and A8," Winterkorn said.
The Audi Q7 was developed from the Pikes Peak concept car launched at the 2003 Detroit Motor Show. The five-door, seven- seater SUV will share the same platform with the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne.
The Touareg and Cayenne, however, are five-seater SUVs.
Aside from offering more passenger space in its class, the Q7 is powered by a V8, double-turbo gasoline engine with FSI direct injection, which creates a maximum power of 500 horsepower and peak torque of 630 Newton-meters.
The new SUV is equipped with the permanent quattro four-wheel drive technology developed by Audi more than 20 years ago. For maximum comfort, it employs a height-adjustable pneumatic suspension.
Meanwhile, the incorporation of driving technology such as electronic differential lock (EDL) and electronic stabilization program (ESP) ensure maximum directional stability and excellent traction for those who desire elegance with power.