The head of Audi Sport says the Ingolstadt-based firm’s performance division plans to “close the gap” on rivals at BMW M and Mercedes-AMG with an onslaught of new products over the next few years.

Speaking to motoring.com.au, Audi Sport managing director Oliver Hoffmann said he had been given a mandate to grow sales of Audi’s S- and RS-badged variants.

“We have permission to grow with Audi Sport in terms of volume, but also in terms of creating the strong brand. We have a lot of support and we have the mandate to do it,” he told the Australian publication.

According to the report, Audi will reveal its new RS Q8 late in 2019, along with new versions of the RS Q3, RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback. Interestingly, though, Hoffmann said “there is no decision regarding an RS Q5” to take on the likes of the BMW X3 M and Mercedes-AMG GLC63 S.

“In volume terms, we will have the biggest model launch ever in our history in the next years. That means we will increase our sale numbers.

“For sure we are number three in terms of the sale volumes behind M and AMG, but we will close the gap in the next years,” he promised.

“I am really looking forward to closing this gap in terms of volume and also the market share for M and AMG,” Hoffmann added.

Original article from Car