Night of Progress proudly welcomes Audi’s e-tron brand to South Africa

• Audi e-tron brand officially launched in South Africa through a ‘Night of Progress’ in Cape Town.

• First media, celebrity and VIP test drives of the design and performance icon, the Audi RS e-tron GT.

• Audi is the first premium automotive brand to launch a fully-fledged electric vehicle range locally.

• An e-tron 55 First edition model will be available in the second half of 2022, priced from R1,745,000.

Cape Town, 23 February, 2022 – Against the backdrop of Table Mountain and within South Africa’s award-winning and largest museum of contemporary African art, Zeitz MOCAA, Audi celebrated the official arrival of their fully electric e-tron range. The occasion was celebrated on palindrome date of 22.02.2022 as it represents a milestone moment for the Four Rings in officially introducing premium sustainable and all-electric mobility for South African consumers. This includes the arrival of the e-tron 55 SUV, e-tron 55 Sportback and S Sportback as well as the high performance and halo models, the e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT. Audi’s Night of Progress grandly showcased the e-tron brand against the pillars of design, digitalisation performance and sustainability, which is the perfect description of what the e-tron model range embodies. The event hosted about 170 key industry players, media, celebrities, VIP and friends of the brand.

“Audi’s Night of Progress allowed us to proudly welcome six electric e-tron models right from the start. Never has any automotive brand anywhere in the world launched this many electric vehicles in one go. And so, last night was a historic moment not just for the Audi brand but for South Africa too. Last night, we took the lead in progressing and contributing towards an electric future in South Africa. By accelerating our transition towards e-mobility, we are fully embracing Audi’s global mission in transforming towards being a provider of premium sustainable mobility and in line with our Brand’s global commitments towards the Paris Climate Agreement.” said Sascha Sauer, Head of Audi South Africa.

Audi’s transition towards electric mobility has yielded positive results for the e-tron model range around the world already. Audi is the world market leader in the luxury electric vehicle market and offers the largest number of fully-electric models to its consumers around the globe. That is evident in Audi’s fully electric car deliveries in 2021, which increased by 58 percent year on year. Additionally, Audi more than doubled its product portfolio of fully electric models in the past year.

Of the models launched last night, Audi has sold over 52 000 units globally which represents two thirds of total Audi electric vehicle sales. With the best-selling model being the e-tron and e-tron Sportback range which has achieved greater success than any other popular fully electric competitor.

“From 2022 onwards, Audi South Africa is committed to grow the e-tron model range locally and will introduce at least one new electric model each year, to grow consumer choice and to demonstrate our commitment in securing a leading electric vehicle position within the premium automotive market from the start here in South Africa. But of course it doesn’t stop at just a product level. Audi has also partnered with GridCars and invested in building the largest and fastest electric vehicle public charging network in the country,” concluded Sauer.

Audi’s Night of Progress showcase was a beautiful display of benchmark eventing. From the innovative display of digital laser light projection to the design features within the Zeitz MOCAA environment and the performance of Audi’s full range of e-tron models, the evening was a true representation of Audi’s “Future is an attitude” narrative.

The full range of Audi e-tron models retailing in South Africa from now consists of three e-tron 55 derivatives, the e-tron 55 Sportback, e-tron S Sportback, and the pinnacle of the line-up, the e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT.