Audi primes rugged electric 4x4 to rival Defender in 2027

Audi is already collaborating with Canadian components giant Magna (which, coincidentally, builds the G-Class in Austria) on development of batteries and electronics for Scout EVs, and the VW Group board is said to be leaning towards giving Magna the contract to build the Scout cars - with room on the production line for an Audi-badged product. The suggestion is that Magna could build 50,000 Audi 4x4s per year – a significant number that would indicate plans for launch in various global markets outside the US – alongside 100,000 Scout cars.

To compete effectively with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Land Rover Defender (electric versions of which will be on sale by the time it arrives), Audi’s first entry into the luxury 4x4 market will need to combine unparalleled off-road ability with top-class interior technology and rolling refinement.

Scout’s ladder chassis will provide the steep departure angles and ground clearance needed to negotiate tough terrain, while the latest generation of Audi’s Quattro four-wheel-drive technology will boost traction on loose surfaces and steep topography - while no doubt making for enticing on-road performance potential, in a straight line and through corners.

The firm has recently stepped back into top-flight off-road motorsport with its RS Q E-tron rally-raid machine – a fearsome range-extender EV built to take on the formidable Dakar Rally – which is serving as a test bed for some of the 4x4 technologies bound for future production cars.

Lichte referenced Audi’s illustrious rallying heritage as a prevailing influence on the project: “If you think about the history of Audi – the rallying success in the '80s with the Quattro and Sport Quattro – it's easy to explain why Audi needs a car like this. And if we talk about Quattro 2.0, it matches even more.”

“I think there is space" for a rugged SUV in Audi’s passenger car line-up, he said. “There is potential because there are only two premium players” in this particular segment (Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover) “and I think there is a space for a third one”.

The models Lichte references as inspiration are two of the longest-standing and most successful in the SUV sphere. The Mercedes has been sold – almost visually unaltered – since 1979 and the Land Rover Defender can trace its spiritual roots right back to the firm’s eponymous debut model, launched in 1948.

Each has evolved into a much more refined and exclusive take on its sparsely equipped ancestor, but to great effect: the Defender was by far Land Rover’s best-selling car last year, with 66,805 sold, and the G-Class set a new sales record the previous year with 41,174 finding homes worldwide.Lichte did confirm that, even if Audi is looking to claim a portion of the rugged 4x4 segment, the new SUV will not seek to obviously emulate the blocky, two-box proportions of its rivals: “It will not look like a G-Class and it will not look like a Defender, I can promise you. It will be something else."

The new Activesphere concept gives strong clues as to how Audi would approach the styling of a dedicated off-roader, and any similarly conceived production car is expected to follow suit with purposeful protective body cladding, short overhangs, lots of suspension travel and a significantly higher ride height than the firm’s more road-focused EVs.

Lichte said that Audi’s designers have much more freedom afforded to them going forward as EV platforms essentially allow for a dismissal of the established hallmarks of passenger car design. “Working as a designer is a dream because we are creating not only a new product portfolio, we're creating the car on a white sheet of paper,” he said. Asked if bosses had approved any particular design for the SUV, he said: “It's too early to talk about this, but we have very concrete ideas. Very concrete ideas.”