Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirmed at the Detroit Motor Show that the Audi automaker had finally persuaded FCA to release the two names that would let Audi lock up the Q1 to Q9 badges for its growing SUV family, but not the Q2 and Q4 ones, which were in Fiat Chrysler's possession.
"We tried to get it years ago and they said 'No, never,' but there is never 'never' in business," said Audi chief Rupert Stadler. "This year I went back to them with a proposal and we talked and there were some negotiations and then we agreed to it."
Audi has used Italian names on past concept cars that FCA could be interested in, such as the 2001 Avantissimo concept and the 2003 Nuvolari coupe. The latter was named after legendary pre-war racer Tazio, who won grands prix for both Alfa Romeo and Audi's forerunner, Auto Union. Both are unlikely trade chips, with laws in Europe preventing the trademarking of the names of actual people.
FCA had retained Q2 as a technology badge to cover its limited-slip differential technology, which morphed from mechanical to electric control. It is expected to be the next new member of Audi's crossover family, potentially making a global debut in two months at the Geneva Motor Show. The Q4 badge, denoting all-wheel drive, last rested on the back of Maserati's Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans but it is also said to be slated for a few years down the line, arriving after the redesigned Q3.
