Audi Q5 supplies a worry

       Tight worldwide supplies of the small Audi Q5 crossover have become a concern for the local importer German Motor Work (GMW), which reported a surprisingly high 95 units booked ahead of the official launch.
       The company hopes to persuade the manufacturer Audi AG in Germany to allocate more vehicles for Thailand to meet demand.
       "We asked Audi in a recent meeting to increase the production and expect that Audi will raise its output this year to a certain extent," said Kitti Maphaisarnsilp, executive director of GMW.
       Originally, Audi allocated only 45 units for delivery to Thailand, he said.
       The tight supplies of the Q5 worldwide are expected to ease by the middle of next year.
       Despite the uncertainty about the Q5 supply, GMW went ahead with its launch event on Tuesday to let customers know that the car was officially on the way.
       "We will tell the German carmaker that the Q5 has been very strongly received by Thai consumers and needs more support by exporting more Q5 units to Thailand," said Mr Kitti.
       GMW hopes the Q5 will help enhance the potential of Audi in the highly competitive automotive market and expand the market base for Audi in the premium sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment.
       The Q5 model destined for Thailand is the 2.0 TFSI Quattro with a retail price of 3.59 million baht.
       GMW earlier introduced the Q73.0 TDI Quattro, a large subcompact, and has since discovered that there remained room for a premium SUV in the Thai market, he added.