Audi: Dieselgate has affected local sales

Audi Australia says the global emissions topic or 'dieselgate' scandal of parent company Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Group (VAG) has affected local sales.

Audi currently ranks third in the prestige marketplace locally, behind German rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The four-ringed marque says it is hopeful a recently-announced 'fix' for customer vehicles affected by the emissions cheating ordeal – coupled with the arrival of a swathe of new product – will improve the company's fortunes Down Under.

"The last twelve months have obviously been a challenging time for the Audi brand in light of the global emissions topic," admitted Audi Australia managing director, Andrew Doyle.

"We recognise that it has been a sometimes frustrating time for our customers as we work with them on their affected vehicles, and [admit] that the start of the recalling process has taken a little bit longer than we had hoped. But it's important now that we work towards the rectification of all vehicles as quickly as possible, and that's our main objective."

In spite of the controversy, Audi's local sales showed modest improvement on 2015. To date, Audi Australia has sold 14,095 units locally, behind BMW (17,803) and prestige segment leader Mercedes-Benz (20,640).

"We've continued strong and consistent growth so far in 2016, increasing by 7.6 per cent to the end of July," Doyle continued. "The premium market has grown significantly over this year, and while it's fair to say we may have grown a little bit faster without the emissions topic, we've nevertheless been able to maintain quite healthy growth."

Doyle said Audi Australia's position in global rankings had also placed it in good stead where access to future product was concerned. To the middle of 2016, Australia ranked as the eleventh-strongest market globally for the Audi brand, a position that represents 12 consecutive years of growth.

"What's most important for us and our customers is how the brand goes forward, and it really starts now," said Doyle "Before the end of the year we'll have the refreshed A3 and S3 in Australia, and we'll see the new S4 and S4 Avant. There's also the outstanding SQ7 TDI quattro, and the second-generation Audi Q5 will also make its public debut before the end of the year."

Up to four new models will be released locally before the end of 2016, including the A4 allroad quattro S tronic this month. The new model roll-out will continue into early 2017 with the arrival of the second-generation A5 and S5 Coupe, and the all-new Q2 compact SUV, which is expected to sell from around $40,000.

Audi's new model roll-out:
A4 allroad quattro S tronic – September 2016
RS Q3 – October 2016
Q5 International Debut – late 2016 (on sale in Australia mid-2017)
SQ7 – late 2016
S4 and S4 Avant – late 2016
A3 and S3 facelift – late 2016
Q2 – early 2017
A5 and S5 Coupe – early 2017
R8 Spyder – mid 2017
A6 – mid 2017
TT RS – late 2017
A7 – late 2017
A8 with self-driving functionality – late 2017