- While Audi plans many new electric models, the gas cars will remain for now.
- Cars such as the A4 and A6 will be renamed to match the existing odd-numbered models to distinguish them from the EV’s even-numbered nameplates.
- The TT and R8 sports cars will cease to exist, but the Q5 and Q7 SUVs reach the next generation, and the Q9 could join the range.
2023 will be another slow year for Audi – a few facelifts and the arrival of the new Q6 e-tron – but 2024 and 2025 will be bumper years for the four rings. The whopping 17 and 15 launches are outlined in two tight twelve month time frames. While most rivals are putting all their money into electric cars, CEO Markus Dussmann and his team will continue to introduce new ICE models in mid-to-late 2020, and there is no end in sight until Europe’s announced registration ban on new petrol and diesel engines – engine cars come into force in 2035.
Let’s go through the ICE rankings step by step to see how the lineup will be rearranged. (The EV range is an entirely different story, but expect the “e-tron” designation to drop entirely and names like the E4 and E6 to arrive at some point.) The common platform used for all future ICE Audis is codenamed PPC, short for Premium Platform Combustion. Gasoline cars will be renamed odd-numbered to distinguish them from even-numbered EV models.
A4 becomes A5, A6 becomes A7
Audi A5 Avant
Next year, Audi will launch the A5 sedan and Avant wagon, which previously carried the A4 moniker. The trio is completed by the new A5 Sportback. Also due in 2024 is the new A7, again as a sedan and Avant, both of which are currently available as the A6. confusing? You bet. The A7 Sportback follows in 2025, along with the second-generation A5 coupe and convertible. All of the above is good to go through 2031 and 2032.
SUV and powerful models
A similar life span applies to the next Q3 and Q3 Sportback, slated for 2024, the last-of-its-kind Q5 (2024) and Q5 Sportback (2025), as well as the final Q7 scheduled to appear in mid-2025. Instead of the rumored Q7 Sportback , we might see a plusher and more premium Q9 worthy of the Horch badge in China.
In addition to the mainstream offerings, PPC will create a full range of powerful hybrid S and RS models with up to 550 hp. in the top range A5s and over 700 hp. in the V-6-powered RS7 Performance, which will once again be available as a sedan, wagon and Sportback.
Sports cars say goodbye, A3 stays
Two of the brand’s ICE legends, the TT and the R8, live on loan. The TT is due to be phased out later this year and there’s no confirmed successor in sight, but if the new Wolfsburg regime is really serious about mold-breaking synergistic effects, Audi may eventually be able to sell redesigned versions of the all-electric replacing the Porsche 718 next year. With the charismatic V-10 engine unfit to clear European emissions hurdles, the R8 bites the dust next year. Its all-electric replacement, which could find a second home with Bentley and Lamborghini, is expected to use the Weissach-conceived SSP61 architecture.
Audi E3
The A3, however, will soldier on – either until 2026, when its successor adopts the advanced electric MEB+ platform, or until 2028, when the even more sophisticated VW-driven SSP3 components become available. More complicated? The Scalable Systems Platform raises the price of electricity in all major departments from range through charging time to energy density. The next A3 should be labeled E3, bucking the even-numbered trend.
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Contributing Editor
Although I was born the only son of an ornithologist and a postal worker, it was clear from the start that bird watching and stamp collecting were not my thing. If I had known that God wanted me to grow to 6’8″, I would also have rejected everything about cars that are to blame for a few slipped discs, a broken link and that stupid slouched position behind the wheel. While working as a keeper at Aberdeen Zoo, smuggling cheap cigarettes from Yugoslavia to Germany and an embarrassing interlude with an amateur drama group also didn’t lead to satisfaction, driving and writing about cars became a much better option. And it still is now, many years later, as I approach 70 It’s my birthday.I love every aspect of my job, except long-haul travel on crappy airlines, and I hope it shows.