Why Did Audi Recently Halt Production of its e-Tron SUV?
Audi had to pump the brakes, so to speak, on the production of its highly anticipated e-Tron SUV. While the halt was temporary, just a few days is all, it might be indicative of a larger problem at hand for the luxury carmaker, which is trying to make headways into the EV space.
Where is the e-Tron SUV?
Let’s get down to brass tacks: Audi stopped production of the e-Tron SUV because the company was having issues resolving production issues, chief among them bottlenecks in battery supply. But, doesn’t Audi make its own batteries like Tesla and General Motors?
How big of an issue is this for Audi?
The halt in production was temporary, lasting approximately just a week. But it’s going to become a bigger issue as sales of the e-Tron continue to increase. Just last year, Audi sold slightly north of 26,000 e-Tron vehicles. Audi of America, specifically, said that it sold close to 5,400 e-Trons. Granted, these aren’t the biggest numbers, but the trend in sales is certainly on the upswing.
>>Join the conversation about Audi needing to scale up for battery requests right here in Audiworld.com.
What about Volkswagen – aren’t they the parent company of Audi?
What are they doing about this issue? Fortunately for Audi, there is a path forward. Parent company Volkswagen AG is investing heavily in joint ventures with battery manufacturers like Panasonic to increase and improve control over their battery supply while also driving down costs. It’s a similar model to that which Tesla set up with Panasonic when it set up its battery factory back in 2016. General Motors and LG Chem announced their own joint venture in 2019 with a battery factory in Ohio.
>>Join the conversation about Audi needing to scale up for battery requests right here in Audiworld.com.
For help with your do-it-yourself maintenance or repair project, please visit our how-to section in the forum
