Audi Eyes G-Class & Defender Territory with Rugged New 4×4

[Source: Autocar]

For those of you dreaming of an Audi off-roader to compete with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class Land Rover Defender, Audi boss Gernot Döllner has six words for you, “Don’t give up on that dream.” According to a recent report by Autocar, Audi is considering an SUV that will battle in the mud with the established Mercedes and Land Rover models.

There are a lot of exciting things on the Audi horizon right now. From the exciting new Concept C to entry into Formula 1, Audi is dominating headlines. Now it seems like they may dominate the trails as well. Audi certainly has plenty of SUVs in their current lineup. However, none of them are what we would consider hardcore off-roaders in the same vein as the G-Class and Defender.

Q6 e-tron Offroad Concept

At the beginning of this year, Audi revealed a Q6 e-tron offroad concept. With newly designed portal axles the concept was reportedly able to climb gradients of up to 100 percent. Döllner called it a “Highly emotive reinterpretation of quattro.” So, a hardcore off-roader would not exactly be coming from left field.

And if Audi does move forward with a vehicle like this, it might be built right here in the U.S. Döllner told Autocar that the new import tariffs have prompted the brand to consider building cars in the U.S., and this new 4×4 would seem a viable candidate for production here, given the popularity of such vehicles in this country.

It would make sense for Audi to build models in an existing VW Group facility in the U.S. – including the Scout plant. But they are also considering a specific Audi factory. “The big question is if we want to have a specific Audi factory or not, and that decision is absolutely open and dependent on how we are we aligned with the U.S. government,” said Döllner.

No matter where it is made, we would love to see Audi build a luxury off-roader to compete with Mercedes and Land Rover. It makes perfect sense for the brand that has already won the Dakar Rally to build a model for the public that can conquer some of the toughest terrain.