Diesel is slowly making an impression here in the United States and Audi has been paying attention. Parent company Volkswagen has been selling a steady stream of diesels for many years, and the enthusiasm for the oil-burners has filtered up into the luxury segment. By 2015, Audi plans to have a diesel variant available for every volume product in its lineup.
This means we still won’t see a production R8 V12 TDI, but it does mean we can look forward to seeing theA4, A6, A8 and Q5 with TDI variants. Currently, the A3 and Q7 are the only US Audis available with diesel engines. You’ve no doubt seen A3 TDIs rolling past you as you stop for gas, since the diesel version now accounts for nearly half of all A3 sales. 40 percent of Q7s have the diesel engine under the hood, and Audi is having trouble keeping either model in stock.
Automakers face stricter fuel economy targets in the coming years, and one way to improve their lineups’ mile-per-gallon figures is by adding diesel versions across the entire range. Audi believes that by 2015, diesels will make up 20 percent of the U.S. sales volume – a vast improvement over the current 5.5 percent.
