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Sonos Confirmed as Sound System Supplier for 4 Audi Models

Audi announced Sonos as the sound system provider for its Q4 e-tron electric vehicle, due in Europe in June at about $50,100, minus a $10,770 subsidy, its least expensive EV to date. In an Audi video announcing the Sonos sound…

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system, its first for the automotive market, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence noted the relationship first acknowledged last month at a virtual investor meeting (see 2103100045) when an analyst asked about a Sonos logo that had appeared subtly in an Audi e-tron ad. “While we were born in the home, we really have an ambition to be the world’s leading sound experience company,” said Spence. That means giving customers the ability to listen to Sonos products “wherever they go,” he said in the video, against a backdrop of a tent showing customers taking the company’s portable Roam speaker, which began shipping this month, to the desert. Spence called Audi a “co-visionary” that “also values innovation and design.” Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, Sonos senior vice president-hardware and operations, said the two companies share “longevity and sustainability” as part of their design principles, developing product that “ages really well and keeps evolving over time.” Sonos’ Giles Martin, vice president-sound experience, described the e-tron sound system's “well-defined center and symmetric sound stage” with deep, clear bass “even at full output.” Sonos sound systems will also be offered in the Audi A1, Q2 and Q3 vehicles. Sonos didn’t respond to questions.