During a lengthy teleconference yesterday, Audi confirmed that it would add TDI clean-diesel models to every car it offers in the U.S. market by 2015.
Audi has frequently touted the strong sales of its two current TDI models, the 2011 Audi Q7 TDI large sport utility vehicle and the compact (but aging) Audi A3 TDI hatchback.
The A3 TDI is by far the more affordable of Audi's first U.S. diesels, and the company scored a coup when it was named Green Car of the Year for 2010, its first year on sale.
But neither the A3 nor the Q7 is a high-volume model for Audi, so the high diesel sales percentage only adds up to small numbers. In 2009, for instance, Audi sold 5,200 clean diesels here, or just 6.3 percent of its total sales of 82,716. Last year, it sold roughly 3,480 A3 TDI models out of a total of 101,629 sales, and a like number of Q7 TDIs.
Audi's best-selling model in the States, the midsize A4 sports sedan, will get a TDI option when it's next redesigned. That model, which managed 53 mpg on the European test cycle, will likely be launched in 2014 or so.
Read More: http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1056518_audi-powers-onward-with-clean-diesel-lineup-for-u-s-buyers
