Audi CEO Says Wealthier Buyers Still Want Gas Engines

• CEO Gernot Döllner says enthusiasts still favor combustion engines as they move upmarket.

• Audi believes EVs are more readily accepted in lower segments.

• The V6 and V8 still have a future at Audi, but the larger engines ain’t coming back.

There once was a time when Audi could get away with selling the A8 full-size sedan with a mighty W12 and still pass emissions regulations. At the peak of the Piëch era (see what I did there?), when everything seemed possible, engineers shoehorned a V12 diesel into the Q7 luxury SUV. Heck, they even adapted the engine for a bonkers R8 TDI supercar concept with a six-speed gated manual...