Audi’s 2025 Deliveries Dip, but EV Sales Surge to Record Levels

If you only glance at Audi’s 2025 delivery total—1.62 million vehicles worldwide—you might assume the brand spent the year treading water. That figure is down about 3 percent from 2024, after all, and in an industry obsessed with growth charts and quarterly spikes, any dip looks like a stumble. Look closer, though, and Audi’s year reads less like a retreat and more like a pivot taken at speed, with its electric models doing the heavy lifting.

The most telling detail isn’t the annual total—it’s the trajectory. Audi’s deliveries rose year over year in every month starting in September, a late-year surge that suggests momentum heading into 2026. The order books back that up. Orders climbed more than 13 percent compared with 2024, and demand for electric vehicles jumped by an eye-opening 58 percent. Translation: customers may have hesitated earlier in the year, but by fall they were signing on the dotted line, especially for EVs.

Audi delivered more than 223,000 all-electric vehicles in 2025, a record for the brand and a 36 percent increase over the previous year. That’s not just incremental progress—that’s a clear shift in the mix. Two models, in particular, carried the charge. The A6 e-tron accounted for roughly 37,000 deliveries, while the Q6 e-tron landed closer to 84,000. Together, they’ve become proof points for Audi’s claim that its EV push is finally resonating with buyers beyond early adopters.

Marco Schubert, Audi’s board member for sales and marketing, summed it up with corporate polish but real substance underneath. The product initiative, he says, is “hitting the road,” and the numbers suggest customers agree—especially when it comes to new electric offerings. Audi’s challenge now isn’t convincing people that it can build desirable EVs; it’s sustaining that growth while navigating a global market that’s anything but stable.

Those headwinds were very real in 2025. Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, fierce competition in China, and shifting U.S. tariff policies all weighed on deliveries. Even strong performances in Europe and various overseas markets weren’t enough to fully offset the pressure. In other words, Audi didn’t shrink because its products lost appeal—it shrank because the playing field tilted.

Europe, excluding Germany, was essentially flat at about 464,000 vehicles delivered, but the composition of those sales changed dramatically. EV deliveries in the region climbed roughly 40 percent to around 113,000 units, mirroring the brand’s global electric upswing. Germany, Audi’s home turf and a notoriously tough crowd, told an even more encouraging story. Total deliveries rose 4 percent to just over 206,000 vehicles, and nearly 41,000 of those were all-electric—a staggering 89 percent increase. For a market that still values Autobahn credibility and engineering pedigree, that’s a meaningful endorsement of Audi’s electric lineup.

Across the Atlantic, the picture was more mixed. North American deliveries slipped 12 percent to about 202,000 vehicles, reflecting broader market pressures and a cautious consumer mood. Still, EVs provided a bright spot. Audi delivered approximately 33,000 electric vehicles in the region, up 15 percent and a new record. Canada, in particular, stood out, with more than 37,000 deliveries overall—an 11 percent increase that set a national high-water mark for the brand.

China remains both Audi’s largest single market and its most demanding battlefield. Deliveries there fell 5 percent to around 618,000 vehicles, but Audi still managed to hold the leading position among its core competitors. That’s no small feat given the intensity of local competition and the rapid pace at which domestic brands are rolling out new EVs. Audi is betting that a fresh wave of China-specific models—including the A6L, A6L e-tron, Q5L, and the upcoming AUDI E7X—will help it regain momentum in 2026.

Elsewhere, Audi quietly posted some of its strongest percentage gains. Overseas and emerging markets grew by about 6 percent to roughly 134,000 vehicles, with EV deliveries up 26 percent. Argentina, Turkey, and Egypt all recorded notable jumps, underscoring how Audi’s brand cachet—and increasingly, its electric offerings—are finding traction well beyond its traditional strongholds.

Not every corner of the business surged. Audi Sport deliveries fell 13 percent to around 36,000 vehicles, largely due to reduced availability during model changeovers. That’s less a referendum on demand than a reminder that even performance icons depend on timing and production cycles.

Step back, and Audi’s 2025 looks like a year of recalibration rather than retreat. Yes, total deliveries dipped slightly. But electric vehicles surged, late-year momentum returned, and key markets—from Germany to Canada to emerging economies—set records. For a brand in the middle of a transition this complex, that’s a credible setup for a stronger follow-through.

If 2025 was about proving Audi’s EV strategy could work at scale, 2026 will be about showing it can win—consistently, globally, and under pressure. Based on how the year ended, Audi appears ready to keep its foot in it.

Source: Audi

Geely Galaxy Cruiser Coming to Britain

If you were betting on who’d take the next swing at the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Geely probably wasn’t your first pick. But that’s exactly what the Chinese auto giant is doing with the Galaxy Cruiser—a square-jawed, tech-heavy SUV that looks ready to muscle into the luxury off-road club. And yes, it’s headed for the UK.

First shown at last year’s Shanghai motor show, the Galaxy Cruiser currently wears a “concept” badge, but only just. According to Geely design studio director Flavien Dachet, the production version is effectively locked in, with Chinese sales slated to begin before the end of the year. Exports will follow, and Geely Auto UK marketing boss Yan Tianxiao has made one thing clear: Britain is firmly on the list.

“We will definitely launch that car in the UK,” he said—no hedging, no qualifiers.

That confidence makes sense, because under the Galaxy Cruiser’s rugged styling sits hardware Geely knows well. The SUV rides on the SEA-R platform, the same architecture underpinning the Zeekr 9X and the plug-in hybrid version of the Lotus Eletre. This isn’t a body-on-frame dinosaur revival; it’s a modern, electrified foundation designed to scale from luxury road cruisers to something far more dirt-friendly.

According to Dachet, the Galaxy Cruiser pushes that platform harder than its siblings ever have. Testing in China’s deserts reportedly exceeded expectations, suggesting that this isn’t just a fashion-forward soft-roader wearing hiking boots for Instagram.

On paper, the concept certainly looks the part. There’s independent active suspension capable of controlling each wheel individually—useful when traction is scarce and terrain is unpredictable—along with steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems. Claimed wading depth is an eyebrow-raising 800 mm, which puts it squarely in Defender territory and well beyond what most “lifestyle SUVs” dare to promise.

Then there’s the AI layer. Geely says the Galaxy Cruiser uses artificial intelligence to support its advanced driver-assistance systems, helping identify obstacles and suggesting safer paths through tricky terrain. Importantly, it won’t override the driver’s inputs—a reassuring note in a world where autonomy marketing sometimes gets ahead of reality—but it’s clearly meant to act as a digital spotter for less experienced off-roaders.

Powertrain details remain officially unconfirmed, but the blueprint is already familiar. Expect the same plug-in hybrid setup used by the Zeekr 9X and Lotus Eletre PHEV: a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine paired with a substantial battery pack, reportedly around 70 kWh. Geely claims an electric-only range of up to 220 miles, though that figure comes from China’s CLTC test cycle, which is far more optimistic than Europe’s WLTP standard. Translate that to the real world, and expectations should be dialed back accordingly.

Still, even a conservative estimate would put the Galaxy Cruiser among the longest-legged PHEVs on sale. With three electric motors in the Zeekr 9X—and all signs pointing to a similar configuration here—four-wheel drive is a given. Power output hasn’t been announced, but the benchmarks are telling: the 9X produces a frankly absurd 1381 horsepower, while the Eletre PHEV is expected to land around 912 bhp. The Galaxy Cruiser may not chase those numbers outright, but “underpowered” won’t be part of its vocabulary.

What’s more interesting is where Geely positions this thing philosophically. Despite its blocky proportions and unmistakable 4×4 silhouette, the Galaxy Cruiser isn’t pitched as a hardcore rock crawler. Dachet openly admits the design team studied the usual suspects—the Defender, G-Wagen, and Ford Bronco—before crafting their own interpretation.

“There’s always the same recipes,” he said. “The codes are the same. It’s how we interpret it in a way that’s recognisable.”

That interpretation leans more toward luxury and family use than mud-plugging bravado. Think less overlanding purist, more premium all-terrain Swiss Army knife. In other words, it’s aimed at buyers who like the idea of rugged capability, even if the toughest obstacle they’ll face most days is a flooded country lane or a snowed-in driveway.

For Geely, the Galaxy Cruiser represents new ground. The company has spent years mastering electric platforms and premium sub-brands, but the rugged luxury SUV space—long dominated by European icons—has remained largely untouched. Breaking into that club won’t be easy. Brand cachet still matters here, and buyers spending Defender or G-Class money tend to be conservative with their loyalties.

But Geely has something those incumbents don’t: scale, speed, and a willingness to rethink what an off-road luxury SUV can be in an electrified era. If the production Galaxy Cruiser delivers on even half of its promises—and arrives in the UK at a competitive price—it could become a serious disruptor.

Whether traditionalists are ready for a high-tech, AI-assisted, plug-in hybrid challenger wearing a Geely badge is another question entirely. But one thing’s certain: the Defender and G-Wagen won’t be the only names in this fight for much longer.

Source: Autocar

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