Audi There could soon be no more coupes or convertibles left in Australia as the brand moves away from these body styles globally.
“It’s definitely declining,” says Peter Strudwicke, product planning manager at Audi Australia, of demand for coupes and convertibles.
“People are increasingly moving to different body styles that are new, so Sportbacks is one of them.
“It could be a Sportback in a low-riding car like an A5, or it could be an SUV Sportback.
There are currently hundreds of new car deals available through CarExpert. Get the experts on your side and score a good deal. Browse now.
“So new body variants are added, they are constantly changing and we are always responding to those changes.
“But the volume we’re seeing in coupes and convertibles has certainly declined steadily, and it’s not just us. You also see that other manufacturers are reducing or ceasing production of certain variants of those types of vehicles.”
Audi Australia recently introduced Competition Plus packages for its RS4 and RS5, but opted to bring the latter only in five-door Sportback guise here, even though the RS5 Coupe is available with this package in Europe.
“The reason we offered the Competition Plus on the Sportback A5 is because it outsells the coupe significantly,” Mr Strudwicke said.
-
A5 Convertible
He also noted that the coupe was excluded because the Competition Plus’ signature bucket seats were not available worldwide.
These seats cannot be folded forward and are therefore not useful in a coupe… unless you really want to test the agility of your passengers.
The VFACTS industry sales data does not break down Audi model sales in terms of regular, hotter S and the most popular RS variants.
However, sales figures for the A5 coupe and convertible range – including the S5 and RS5 models – show that a total of just 78 units were sold in the first eight months of this year.
The A5 Sportback range – including the S5 and RS5 models – achieved 307 sales this year.
-
TT
Audi has unveiled a new-generation A5 expected here next year, but it will only be offered in five-door liftback and five-door station wagon body styles.
No word has been spoken about a replacement for the current two-door coupe and two-door convertible body styles, which seems to indicate that Audi will cede this segment to BMW (with its 4 Series) and Mercedes-Benz (with its CLE ).
Audi’s range of coupes and convertibles has already been thinned out.
Production of the TT coupe and convertible ended last year and local stock is drying up, while the R8 will no longer roll off the factory line this year.
The supercar was discontinued locally in 2021, shortly after the A3 Cabriolet left production as it transitioned to a new generation.
