Audi pauses sales of its largest hybrid SUVs
Firm says supply constraints are to blame.
Audi has confirmed that its two largest plug-in hybrid SUVs have been temporarily taken on sale as the brand struggles with ongoing supply issues.
The two models – the Q7 TFSI e and Q8 TFSI e – haven’t been on sale for all that long, but the cars are now not included on the Audi UK website, and not available on the configurator.
These two plug-in hybrids both use the same 3.0-litre V6 petrol-electric powertrain, offering around 30 miles of pure-electric driving to a charge, and are popular company cars because of their low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK), which is based on CO2 emissions.
However, a spokesman for Audi UK told the PA news agency that ‘orders have been temporarily paused on these models’, adding that this was due to a ‘mix of strong order bank and supply constraints’.
Standard petrol and diesel versions of the Q7 and Q8 are still available to order, with Audi unable to say when these plug-in hybrid models would go on sale again.
Many manufacturers are continuing to grapple with supply constraints as a result of the ongoing shortage of semiconductors, which are used for a variety of functions in cars, from touchscreens to safety assistance systems. Several carmakers have chopped and changed their line-ups as a result of the disruption.
Audi has also recently axed the A5 Cabriolet from its UK line-up as a result of slow sales, with the German firm unlikely to launch a replacement version of this convertible when the A5 line-up is discontinued in the next few years.
