Audi had a banner year last year.

The German automaker sold more than 200,000 cars in the US for the first time in its history — reaching this milestone three years ahead of schedule.

Audi's surging sales were led by the strong performance of its A3 compact sedan, as well as the Q3 and Q5 crossover SUVs.

Leading the charge for the company is Audi of America president Scott Keogh.

The 46-year-old from Long Island, New York, has been Audi's top man in the US for more than three years, in which time the company has experienced record growth.

Keogh sat down with Business Insider at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We talked about everything from the prospect for a slowdown in US sales, to plans to launch an electric SUV, and parent company Volkswagen's emissions scandal.

On the US auto market in 2016:

The auto industry in the US, as a whole, had a banner year in 2015, with 17.5 million automobiles rolling out of dealer showrooms — a feat that had never been accomplished before.

"Looking at the macro view of the American car market, I think it's still good," Keogh said. "Fuel prices and interest rates, while climbing, are still extremely low, and if you look at the age of most fleets out there you are still looking at a 10- to 11-year-old vehicle population, so there will room for movement there."

However, the Audi executive a cautioned that despite its strong performance in 2015, the industry will likely see growth rates slow down.

"I think we should not be naive, though," Keogh said. "The market just broke a record for sales and I don't think we are going to see the type of growth rates we've been seeing."

"Since the market hit rock bottom in 2008-2009, we've seen these great growth rates," he added. "There's no way that's going to continue when the market is already at 17.5 million cars."

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As a result, Keogh believes there will be a tighter market in the coming year and will force car companies to step up their game in terms of product, service, and strategy.

On what car companies need to do to succeed in a tighter market:

"Tighter markets mean they will have to have good discipline," Keogh said. "Take care of customers, generate good demand from marketing, hopefully have fresh products to drive people into dealerships, don't get oversupplied with inventory, and hang on to your pricing power."

"These are crucial fundamentals which you will have to hang on to, and Audi will certainly do that," he added.

On Audi's electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure:

In 2018, Audi will launch a long-range electric SUV based on the company's much-hyped E-Tron Quattro Concept. Although the new SUV is expected to a range of 270 to 300 miles on a single charge, Audi will have to satisfy the needs of its customers for fast charging, both at home and remotely.

According to Keogh, effective, fast charging at home will take care of the needs of most customers due to the fact that 300 miles of electric range will be for than sufficient to hand most daily driving needs.

However, Keogh does believe the availability of remote charging locations is very important.

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"The biggest thing for me for those who purchase our EVs is peace of mind," Keogh said. "When someone is looking at a gasoline-powered car, they have no concerns at all [about finding a place to fill up] and we have to overcome those concerns with EVs."

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