In an announcement today, Audi revealed that production of the highly anticipated Q4 e-tron electric SUV is underway at its Zwickau factory.
In 2019 the German automaker revealed the Q4 e-tron concept during the Geneva Motor Show with plans to bring the vehicle to production soon after. It was expected to reach production sometime in 2020, but like many other projects from several different automakers, that was pushed due to the hardships brought on by the current global pandemic.
However, Q4 e-tron lines are up and running as Audi announced the start of production alongside the VW ID.4 electric SUV: “Audi goes ‘back to its roots’: In Zwickau in Saxony, the birthplace of this long-standing German company, production of the Audi Q4 e-tron has finally started. The fully electric compact model is the first electric SUV to be produced by Audi in Germany. The Q4 e-tron features a Volkswagen-made modular electric drive matrix (MEB), a highly versatile and variable platform that is suitable for numerous fully electric models and offers considerable scope for leveraging synergies.”
According to the automaker, 1,400 assembly line employees are working on producing the Q4 e-tron. AUDI AG board member for Production and Logistics, Peter Kössler commented on Audi’s collaboration with Volkswagen: “The cross-brand collaboration in Zwickau demonstrates once again the enormous synergy potential that we enjoy with the Volkswagen Group. The on-schedule start of production of the Audi Q4 e-tron is testament to the outstanding teamwork – among the Volkswagen and Audi colleagues alike. Our compact electric SUV is unmistakably a true Audi that will wow our customers with its outstanding quality and everyday usability.”
Chairman of the executive management of Volkswagen Saxony, Dr. Stefan Loth added: “With the start of production of the Audi Q4 e-tron, the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau is now a multi-brand plant. As a result, we are writing yet another chapter in the long history of the automotive industry here in Saxony. I’d like to thank all the Audi employees who are currently manufacturing the vehicles to the very highest quality, in the agreed-upon volume, and on schedule.”
The Audi Q4 e-tron may be in production, however, deliveries of the new electric SUV won’t begin until summer and that’s only for the European market.
Although Audi revealed the interior of the Q4 e-tron earlier this month, the automaker is expected to unveil the electric SUV in full next month.
In addition to the start of Q4 e-tron production, the automaker announced earlier this week that they will abandon the development of new internal combustion engines. During an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, Audi CEO, Markus Duesmann was noted saying it is just the beginning of the automaker’s plans to accelerate electrification.