Audi’s Rupert Stadler has stated that they will not be trying to position themselves as a green brand like BMW. They will still make efficient cars though.

“We will stick to our Vorsprung Durch Technik philosophy, not have a catch-all marketing claim such as Efficient Dynamics,” said Stadler. “We’re convinced in Vorsprung Durch Technik, we’re a dynamic, sporty brand but not necessarily positioned as a green brand. That will come about as a matter of course.”

“We want to take out weight and want to further diesel and FSI technology. We can still improve fuel consumption. But we will not position Audi as a green car brand – we will fulfil regulations – but we are also an emotional brand.”

Some may bring up the e-tron and say this is marketing lies. But Stadler says otherwise. He says the possibilities of electric cars are interesting, and that they wouldn’t put an electric car on sale unless they were convinced it would give the sort of performance an Audi should.

“We have to optimise performance of electric cars,” he said. “Performance is part of our emotional appeal, so it’s very important.

“Electric power will also give Quattro more possibilities, such as powering the rear axle like in the A1 concept, or four wheels in motors like the E-tron. In fact, we want to launch a production E-tron in small volumes at the end of 2012.”

Speaking of the e-tron, reports are indicating that 1,000 units will be produced, when if it goes into production in 2012.

It’s nice to see that they’re interested in innovation rather than satisfying Greenpeace. Keep it up Audi.

Source: Autocar and Autoblog