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Audi pick-up to rival Mercedes-Benz ute would be “difficult”, says designer

Audi won’t follow the lead of Mercedes-Benz by creating a premium pick-up, according to the brand’s design boss.


Speaking with CarAdvice beside his latest creation, the Audi Prologue Allroad concept, on the stage at the Shanghai motor show, Audi head of design Marc Lichte said it would be “difficult” to apply his new design language to a one-tonne ute.

“Maybe not in the close future,” Lichte responded when asked if he could imagine an Audi-branded pick-up.

“Maybe, but not today.”

Lichte would be the perfect man for the job if Audi were to take on such a task. The German designer has pick-up pedigree, having styled the exterior of the Amarok during his time with sister company Volkswagen.

Unlike Mercedes-Benz, which has turned to partner Nissan and the new Navara for the underpinnings of its new ute, Audi would only have to look next door for pick-up hardware and know-how from Volkswagen.

But Lichte says he has never even scribbled an Audi ute in a sketchpad and believes that the Amarok fits perfectly with Volkswagen for the entire VW Group.

Mercedes-Benz’s premium pick-up is expected to launch in Australia from around early 2018, taking the fight up to high-end versions of the Amarok, as well as the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

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