Audi v Tesla: Why the Audi Q4 e-tron SUV is critical in its sales struggle against the Tesla Model Y electric car

Audi is confident it can reclaim the ground it lost to Tesla in 2023 - but admits it will need the much-anticipated Q4 e-tron to really do battle with its American rival in the electric vehicle market.

The German brand had a difficult year in 2022 in terms of sales, dropping 7.9 per cent from its 2021 numbers and allowing Tesla to sweep past it and become the third best-selling luxury brand in the country, behind Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

It’s a seismic shift in the Australian car industry, with Audi typically making it a ‘German Big Three’ in the luxury market, comfortably ahead of challengers such as Lexus, Jaguar and Land Rover. Supply constraints for Audi and a growing electric vehicle market for Tesla combined to see the company’s clash.

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As 2023 begins Audi Australia’s recently-appointed managing director, Jeff Mannering, is confident that his brand can bounce back but acknowledges Tesla has a difference-making model that Audi is missing - a circa-$80,000 electric vehicle.

“I don’t find it disappointing,” Mannering said, when asked about dropping behind Tesla on the sales charts. “It actually highlights for us and the factory that we’ve got our planning correct, which is not incorrect because it was 100 per cent supply [constraints] in 2022. 

"Tesla is in a segment where we don’t [have an offering]... When you talk electric cars, the Model 3 sits at about 70 to 80,000 bucks, so that’s where the volume is. We've got e-tron, so we’re in there [the EV market], and as I said before, if you had Q4 [e-tron] here the story could have been a bit different because it’s a car in the A-segment, that’s the volume segment for BEVs.”

He added: “I would love the Q4 here. All the dealers would love the Q4 here.”

The problem for Audi Australia is while the Q4 e-tron is a solution, there’s no clarity on when the small electric SUV will be available in local showrooms, but it won’t be until at least 2024. 

Tesla has become the third best-selling Luxury brand in Australia.

“Currently I can’t tell you what the realistic timeframe is,” Mannering admitted. “I can tell you it won’t be 2023.”

Despite rising EV sales, as demonstrated by Tesla’s success, Australia remains behind other key markets so doesn’t get supply priority from Audi head office but Mannering is confident that when it does arrive the Q4 e-tron will make an impact on the local line-up.

“I don’t think we’ve missed the boat,” he said. “I understand why the decision has been made, if you talk globally and you look at markets like the US, UK and a lot of the European markets, that’s where significant volume is.”

There's still no word on when the Q4 e-tron will hit local showrooms.

But even without the Q4 e-tron, Mannering believes improved supply will ensure a better sales year for the four-ring brand in 2023, even if that doesn’t mean reclaiming third place to make it a German brand trifecta in luxury car sales.

“We’re not so much focusing on the place,” he explained. “I said [earlier] the e-tron GT, to launch that car at the start of the year is great for us as a brand. We’ve got cars in the country now, we don’t have to play catch up now [and] it’s going to be a lot more stable with supply. 

"We just have to make sure the dealers are performing, we’re performing and make sure the cars are coming. Every day is a new challenge, even at the end of last year there were thousands of cars lined up at Port Kembla and Melbourne [docks], so we’ve just got to get through those issues. The playing field is a bit more level this year because we’ve actually got cars this year - which is great.”