Let’s see: Audi TT-RS and RS5 heading to the United States, S7 and RS7 Sportback in the works, R8 GT and the possible (make that likely) production of the Quattro Concept.
Those are a few of the Audi performance products we’ve seen recently. With that list, is there any Audi performance project they will say no to? Apparently, yes – if it has to do RS SUV or crossover models.
BMW held out on this issue for quite some time, never affixing its M badging onto a SUV or crossover until the X5 M and X6 M. Audi’s RS badging is reserved for the upper crust of its performance lineup, taking it even further than S-Line or S.
The report comes from Autoblog.it who says the policy at Audi, set by technical chief Stephan Reil, is that its crossover models will not wear the RS badge.
This has to do with the decision that these large and inherently non-performance vehicles will never offer true performance. Apparently Porsche, which is now under the same roof, didn’t get the memo with the Cayenne.
Normally we would think it could have something to do with the desire to eliminate competition between Audi and Porsche. Given the recent approvals of performance models at Audi though (such as the R8 GT) we would have to rule that out.
If true, do you think Audi has made the right decision on this? Will an SUV or crossover ever be fun to drive? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
