Since the mid-1990s, Audi has stood for uncompromising quality in workmanship and materials like no other brand. This laid the foundation for its rise from a somewhat brittle-looking corporate mouse to a premium manufacturer on par with Mercedes and BMW in terms of image. Recently, however, this nimbus has begun to falter.
Audi's recent management chaos resulted in considerable delays in introducing vital new models. But with the backlog of new cars now cleared up, six new models debuted last year alone: the A6 E-Tron, Q6 E-Tron, A5 sedan, A5 Avant, Q5 SUV, and Q5 Sportback. In addition, the important A6 Avant with combustion engines will be presented in just a few weeks.
Audi has certainly closed important gaps in its model portfolio. However, a closer look at the new vehicles immediately reveals the next problem. The quality of the materials used in the interiors of the A6 E-Tron, Q5, and other Audi models is, in some cases, very disappointing, and most regular Audi customers are likely to find it incomprehensible.
It's not so much what you see or touch at first glance—most everything remains in the green zone. But what's hidden underneath is something that would not have existed in the Audi lineup just a few years ago. The hard plastic on the door panels and glove compartment is frighteningly simple. And what will those painted parts look like in four or five years?
Those responsible have at least come to a realization. At the drive event for the new Q5, Oscar da Silva Martins, Head of Product and Technology Communication at Audi, was unusually open in his self-criticism and said to journalists present when asked: "We have certainly been better in terms of quality in the past, but we will get there again." He added that the demands of customers and the media on Audi quality had perhaps been slightly underestimated.
In addition, other Audi officials held out the prospect of improvements in this area in the near future. With the facelifts of the latest models, the lesser materials should be a thing of the past. It is possible (hopefully) that they will also react to this in the upcoming new models.
In the Ingolstadt-based company's defense, it should be mentioned that in most cases, the competition with the three-pointed star is no better. At Mercedes, too, the quality of materials has declined noticeably over the last few years. No vow to improve has yet been heard from them. BMW, on the other hand, bottomed out at the beginning of the 2010s with the then-new 3 Series (F30) and has improved since then.
We keep hearing from development circles that constantly tightening standards for emissions, crash safety, cyber security, and homologation are having an extreme impact on development costs and that this has to be compensated for elsewhere. Nevertheless, German premium manufacturers, in particular, should not cut corners when it comes to one of their major hobbyhorses: outstanding quality.
We're curious to see what happens next.
