In a bid to challenge their rival BMW, Audi is considering about introducing two-door luxury cars though the Audi’s design boss Marc Lichte does not believe that market demand is currently strong enough to justify such a model.
When asked about Audi’s lack of presence in the segment, Lichte said: “I love the shape of a two-door coupé, but it is also true that the [sales] volumes [for them] are much lower than for four-doors. In the future, who knows? We have many ideas in this direction.”
The luxury coupés sector has enjoyed a resurgence with the forthcoming 8-series which will take on the Mercedes-Benz S-class Coupe, as well as the new Polestar 1 – the first model from Volvo’s new performance arm.
In the recent years, Audi has shifted its attention away from two-doors, but the Prologue concept car revealed at the Los Angeles motor show in 2014, hinted at how a range-topping coupé from Ingolstadt might look.
The Prologue, one of Lichte’s first designs for the company, was ostensibly a car to preview Audi’s then-new design language, but could yet be the inspiration for the oft-mooted A9 two-door flagship.
Despite the growing number of luxury coupé offerings from rival manufacturers, a two-door is unlikely to arrive before 2019, because Audi’s current model schedule has four new launches lined up.
About the coupé’s launch, Lichte said: “First we must launch the A6, then we have the Q8 next year, A1 and Q3. We won’t do anything before this. It’s step by step.”