Audi Korea "Launching Record 16 New Car Models in Korea This Year"

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"This year, Audi Korea plans to launch a record 16 new car models in the Korean market."

Steve Clotty (photo), President of Audi Korea, stated this on the 13th at the 'Audi New Year Media Round Table' event held at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. The event was an occasion to announce Audi Korea's major achievements from last year and plans for this year. It was also the first official meeting between Clotty, who was appointed as the head of Audi Korea in May last year, and the domestic media.

At the event, President Clotty emphasized regaining market share through aggressive new model launches and sustainable growth this year. He mentioned that while last year was a year of strategy formulation and preparation, this year will be the year to fully execute the strategy by launching the most new models ever and expanding customer touchpoints mainly through a small-scale network.

He said, "In terms of sales performance, last year was not the best year," and added, "If last year was a year to review strategies and strengthen fundamentals, this year will be a year of 'reset' to officially introduce new models and fully implement the strategy."

Steve Clotty, President of Audi Korea, is explaining Audi Korea's strategy for 2025 at a media briefing held on the 13th at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Audi Korea

Last year, Audi Korea's domestic sales volume was 9,304 units, a 48% decrease compared to the previous year. Among various causes, the absence of new car lineups was cited as the main reason for the decline in market share. To overcome this, Audi Korea has prepared the largest-ever new car lineup this year. The strategy is to recover market share in the Korean market by launching 16 new or facelifted models this year and 10 next year.

Key models scheduled for launch this year include the mid-size electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) Q6 e-tron, the near-large electric sedan A6 e-tron, and among internal combustion engine vehicles, the main volume models, the fully redesigned A5 and Q5. Among these, the most attention-grabbing is the Q6 e-tron, a model that embodies Audi's innovative electric vehicle technology.

The Q6 e-tron is the first mass-produced model to apply the electric vehicle-dedicated platform 'PPE (Premium Platform Electric)'. The introduction of this new platform is evaluated as setting a new standard for Audi electric vehicles in terms of efficiency, driving dynamics, and design. The Q6 e-tron is equipped with a 100 kWh lithium-ion battery, enabling a maximum driving range of 641 km on a single charge (based on the European WLTP standard).

Audi Korea New Car Lineup. (From left in the photo) Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q6 e-tron, Audi Q7, Audi Q8. Provided by Audi Korea

This unprecedented new car launch plan for this year would not be possible without smooth communication with the headquarters. President Clotty emphasized, "Audi headquarters also considers Korea as one of the top 10 markets and a very important market," adding, "We discuss products and technical points for Korean customers daily with the headquarters, executives, and the board of directors."

Audi Korea has also revised its dealer network and service center construction strategy to increase customer touchpoints. Instead of large showroom-centered dealerships, the plan is to increase small-scale, digitalized networks to expand customer contact points. The number of nationwide showrooms, which was 33 last year, will increase to 35 this year, and the existing 32 service centers will expand to 37 this year. President Clotty said, "Our goal is to establish a service network that can be accessed within 30 minutes in densely populated metropolitan areas," and added, "We are also considering introducing unmanned stations that can be used 24/7 throughout the year."