A new model that’s eagerly awaited by corporate clients is likewise set to launch with the Audi A5 Avant, which will be available with a combustion engine too. Which competencies will this vehicle bring that are of relevance for fleets?

Carsten Kortüm: Visually, of course, the Audi A5 Avant is pure elegance and therefore offers added prestige for business users. At the same time, the high functionality and practical features of the model must also be mentioned – whether the large luggage compartment or the flexible seating configuration. Typically Avant even.

Sascha Evers: And taking typical fleet use cases one step further: The new Audi A5 can integrate seamlessly into our customers’ digital ecosystem and therefore offer a personal connectivity experience. In terms of the powertrain, the new Avant relies on a strong combination of performance and efficiency both in the combustion engine models that will be available initially and then later on in the hybrid variant.

How long can fleets – as with the Audi A5 Avant – continue to expect this mix of several available powertrain concepts?

Carsten Kortüm: The overall goal remains the same: We will all drive electrically in the foreseeable future. That’s the way forward, that’s technologically evident. We have relevant legislation in all markets to reduce carbon emissions and exhaust emissions; electric mobility is the only technology out there at the moment that can allow these objectives to be met. 2033 is the target set by Audi to discontinue sales of cars with combustion engines in Europe. But we are also ideally positioned for the transition period. The newly developed PPC platform ultimately offers us a completely new platform for our combustion engine models.

In your experience, what role do plug-in hybrids play for fleet customers at the moment?

Sascha Evers: PHEVs are in strong demand at present in many European countries – we will therefore continue to make our PHEV offer attractive for this target group until we phase out cars with combustion engines. For fleet customers, or rather user-choosers, PHEVs simply offer a good opportunity to test the transition to pure electric mobility and gather experience.

Carsten Kortüm: The situation is somewhat different in Germany. PHEVs are in greater demand here in smaller fleets, while larger companies are now clearly focussing on BEVs. In the first six months of the year, we provided some 13 per cent more all-electric cars to corporate clients than in the same period the previous year.

We spoke earlier about how important it is to support fleet customers over and above the vehicle itself. What can fleet customers expect from Audi in the future in this respect – for example in terms of fleet management, digital tools etc.?

Sascha Evers: A major topic here – in collaboration with Volkswagen Group Fleet International – is the provision of a digital ecosystem; fleet customers are set to benefit enormously from this. Looking to the future, fleet managers could use a central ID, for example, to log in to a platform online and check vehicle populations and even maintenance intervals, by uploading mileage in real time. Also conceivable are features such as digital key management, which would considerably ease the management of pool fleets. If we take this further, we will even be able to offer specific procurement recommendations for vehicles in the future, which best match the individual usage profiles of the team members.

Mr Kortüm, Mr Evers – a personal question for you both finally, if I may: Which new Audi models are your personal favourites for 2024?

Carsten Kortüm: I think it’s fairly obvious that I’m a fan of the Audi Q6 e-tron (laughs). But I’m personally just as excited about the Audi A5 Avant. Sascha, is it the same for you?

Sascha Evers: Absolutely – and I’ll complete the top 3 by adding the new Audi A6 e-tron. As a fleet-minded person, you’ve got to love these three vehicles, because they have everything you need in our business and, apart from that, they are simply fun.