Audi won't build its last gasoline car in 2026 after all

A slower-than-expected market for electric cars is now causing Audi to reassess its own goal of launching nothing but electric cars from 2026.

Audi has previously said it would launch its last new gasoline car in 2026. But that goal is not necessarily written in stone.

Now Autocar writes that the German car brand has gotten cold feet.

The last ever car from Audi was supposed to be the next-generation Q7. But a slower-than-expected market for electric cars has apparently changed the Germans' minds.

According to the plan, the upcoming Q7 should have been launched in 2026, because it will be removed from the program again in 2032.

At that time, Audi's model range was to consist only of electric cars. Should… Because when Audi recently presented its annual accounts to the outside world, director Gernot Döllner emphasized that the combustion engine still plays a crucial role.

From 2026 to 2032 and to an unknown date

– In all our markets we will take a look at the combustion engine. We had said that 2032 was our deadline. But we have to reassess that, says Döllner.

And then the Audi director explained that the switch to electric cars is taking longer than expected, and that the combustion engine will therefore play an important role in the meantime.

But now the brand from Ingolstadt has no idea how long that interim period will actually last. Conversely, Audi is one of the only brands that has so far insisted that it was and is necessary to skip the gasoline and diesel cars from the model program.

One by one, competitors have had to admit that they cannot survive without the combustion engine. Most recently, a brand like Volvo has thrown its goal of only building electric cars in the trash.

One of the only car brands that has not wanted to put any kind of death knell on the combustion engine is BMW.

On the contrary, the Munich brand has insisted that the electric cars should only supplement the existing model range. Therefore, new BMWs will also be available with both types of powertrain in the future. Read more about it here .