Audi considers S-Max rival and a scooter

Audi is seriously considering building a ‘premium’ people carrier according to sales and marketing chief Peter Schwarzenbauer.

Speaking at the opening of Audi’s new digital showroom in London, Schwarzenbauer said that the traditional MPV ‘was a boring concept’ but that something ‘designed as an Audi’ with six or seven seats was a strong possibility.

He admitted that Ford’s S-Max was the kind of sporting interpretation of the people carrier that was under consideration by the company. Ford has claimed that the S-Max has attracted many buyers who had previously been driving premium-brand cars.

Schwarzenbauer also admitted that a two-wheel Audi was on the horizon. Although there would never be a ‘Ducati wearing an Audi badge’, he said that the Ducati brand could play an important role in ‘future mobility solutions’ for urban travellers, hinting that the brand’s two-wheel know-how would be used in the development of a future Audi scooter or motorcycle.

The attention of premium-brand car makers have been attracted by the huge level of two-wheeler sales in Asia, which are driven both by limited budgets and by the effectiveness of two-wheelers in dense city traffic.

Both Mini and Smart have shown concept scooters and BMW is about to launch its own battery-powered city scooter.