Autocar notebook: Audi's electric future and Stellantis's firm rivalry

Our render shows how the next Audi TT could look

Our reporters have had their ears to the ground all week - here's what they've heard

*Audi’s all-encompassing electric future*

Audi aims to have a pure-EV in every “core segment” from 2027. So that’s the indomitable Q5, Q3 and A4 going electric, then, but what about the far-from-core R8 and TT sports cars? We asked technical development boss Oliver Hoffmann if the two-seaters will get a battery-powered reprieve now that they’re entering their final few months on sale.

“The future will be fully electric,” he said. “We intend to come up with some surprises again and we are working on sports car concepts that will probably be fully electric. All I can say is we will surprise and thrill you.”

Given the new Audi-Porsche PPE platform will get rear- and all-wheel-drive drivetrains and place an emphasis on dynamics, it seems an obvious basis for EV versions of each.

*Firm rivalry*

It’s easy to misconstrue inter-manufacturer rivalries as animosity, but away from the sales charts and one-upmanship, industry bosses can learn a lot from each other.

Take Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares (above left), who recently told reporters he has “not only a deep respect for [Volkswagen Group CEO] Herbert Diess, I think he is an inspiring leader, and hats off for what he is trying to achieve”.

Tavares said his 14-brand company uses Volkswagen as a “benchmark for many things” and says “time will tell us who has been able to execute his strategy”.