Weak U.S. dollar kills Audi plans of Q7 hybrid

The head of Audi’s brand in the U.S., Johan de Nysschen, said that the weak dollar will force Audi not to sell the Q7 hybrid on the stateside. He said Audi could not make a business case for the electric/gasoline engine hybrid.

“If you look at the way the economics are going, it was a very hard car to make the numbers work,” De Nysschen said in an interview at the New York Auto Show. The Audi Q7 hybrid was scheduled to be launched in early 2009, following the sales of the diesel Q7.

“We will not do the hybrid Q7 as a conventional product offering,” De Nysschen said. “We will have a very low volume of cars available.” He said some Q7 hybrids will be available in the U.S. for ‘commercial’ use.

Audi will most likely offer a hybrid powertrain in the upcoming Q5 crossover which debuts in the U.S. later in 2009.

De Nysschen said that an A4 diesel is also likely to get the green light for the U.S. but won’t go on sale until much after the Q7 diesel. “We also haven’t decided whether we do the V-6 or the four-cylinder diesel,” he said.