Volkswagen Group will build a flagship electric car for Audi, Porsche, Bentley in Germany, the Handelsblatt business paper reported.
The car, codenamed “Landjet,” will roll off a new production line at VW Group’s factory in Hanover, Germany, the paper said in a report published on Saturday.
The three-row, seven-seat vehicle is being developed by Audi as part of its Artemis Project that is creating new technologies for electric, highly automated automobiles for VW Group.
VW Group picked its Hanover factory, which mainly builds commercial vehicles, for the Landjet because Audi’s factories are too small, Handelsblatt said.
“The Landjet can go into series production quite quickly in Hanover and with less additional effort than in an Audi factory,” a VW Group executive told the paper.
The Hanover plant will also produce the ID Buzz, a modern, full-electric version of VW’s Microbus that became a 1960s icon.
The Landjet is expected to offer a range of 650 km (404 miles). Audi’s version would launch in 2024 and versions for Porsche and Bentley would come later. Control of Bentley is being transferred to Audi from Porsche, company sources last month told Automobilwoche, a sister publication of Automotive News Europe.
It is not clear if the production Landjet will be a sedan or a utility vehicle, or a mix of both.
VW Group said on Friday that it will produce three full-electric “D-SUV models” for other group brands at the Hanover plant. VW’s press release did not mention the brands that will get the models.
Handelsblatt said the production Landjet will be a sedan that will be a rival to the next-generation Tesla Model S.
Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark has previously hinted that the EV his company plans to launch by 2025 could have an SUV shape to allow for batteries to be positioned underfloor. This would give the car more space than the brand’s traditional coupes and sedans, but with a smaller footprint.
Bentley said on Nov. 16 that it will switch its entire model range to full-electric vehicles by 2030.
