Audi’s Hildegard Wortmann: ‘Edutainment’ needed to boost consumers’ confidence in EVs

WASHINGTON — Consumers will continue have a choice between electric and combustion powertrains for the next several years, but Audi‘s global head of marketing and sales says automakers need much more “edutainment” to salve consumer apprehension about electric vehicles.

Hildegard Wortmann visited the U.S. this month as part of the German premium brand co-hosting the Major League Soccer All-Star Game against Premier League champion Arsenal at the Audi Field stadium in Washington, D.C. Wortmann said automakers shouldn’t be “dogmatic” when marketing EV, but they need to educate consumers about their benefits while entertaining them and easing their concerns.

“I want the customers to be aware that there is a choice and that they can go for an electric car, and that this electric car does offer 300 miles, does offer fast charging, which I think is more important than actually the range,” Wortmann told Automotive News here. But, she said, automakers need to educate consumers in an entertaining way that “there is nothing to be afraid of. It’s natural that you need to get acquainted with it, and there are a lot of things in an electric car that you need to be aware of.”

She said brands should aim their marketing to tell consumers “why we are doing this. Not to sell another technology; we are doing this to decarbonize, and we need to come to an end with fossil fuels.”

Wortmann was going to be part of a larger Audi board visit to its U.S. operations, but those plans were abruptly changed last month when VW Group named group strategy chief Gernot Döllner to replace Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, effective Sept. 1.

Wortmann said the board intrigue wouldn’t impact Audi’s U.S. operations or its dealers and happens from time to time.

“I think our dealers are so experienced in the automotive industry… nobody is surprised,” Wortmann told Automotive News. “It’s all human beings. There are a lot of emotions going on and these things happen, but they go as well. And I think the main thing for us is not to really be focused on what’s happening [on the board]. We have the largest product initiative in our history ahead of us, and we need all hands on deck. We need everyone to be 100 percent focused on this, and that’s the spirit: We are in this to win this, and we want to show everyone that we can deliver.”

In terms of product, Wortmann said Audi’s lineup of crossovers, including its Q4 and Q8 e-tron EVs as well as the combustion-powered Q5 and Q7, had proven themselves in the market with consumers and that the continued consumer shift away from sedans was likely to continue, especially with internal combustion models. But, she said, “on the electric side, there is more of a chance [of sedans recovering], and I think if you look a few steps further ahead, the real game-changer will be autonomous driving. Then I think we’re back into discussing whether sedans might have a different opportunity there. But those sedans will not look like sedans look to date.”

Wortmann pointed to Audi’s COVID-era series of Sphere concept vehicles, which were done to show what might be possible, especially in vehicle interiors, as both battery technologies and autonomous driving sophistication matures.

“With the Sphere [concepts], we’ve shown how the interior of a car is changing how this becomes much more of a living space, much more of an urban space in the car,” Wortmann said. “And with that I think the chances for sedans are quite different now because you could convey a different interior that is more modern, more aspirational to what the modern living style is. And that could have a chance.”

But, she cautioned, it will ultimately be up to Audi customers to decide whether sedans continue to have a future.