Audi to rejig naming construction with evens for EVs, odds for ICE

The Audi A4 and A6 will be going away soon, but they should be back in short order.

In an interview with Bild last week, Markus Duesmann, Audi’s CEO, confirmed the automaker will be tinkering with its naming structure as it transitions to an all-electric lineup by 2023 in all regions except China.

Duesmann confirmed: “The odd numbers will be the combustion engines and the even numbers will stand for the battery electric vehicles. The successor to today’s A4 will be called the A5, and today’s A6 will be called the A7. 

“The A4 and A6 will then be electric.”

Despite this realignment, Oliver Hoffmann, Audi’s chief technology officer, told the German publication: “At Audi, e-tron stands for 100 percent electric and is a well-established term. We want to stick to that.”

There has been speculation that the ditching of the classic A4 and A6 names will be twinned with a pruning of the body styles offered in Audi’s internal combustion engine (ICE) range.

So far our spy photography team has only spotted successors to the A4 wagon and A5 Sportback liftback, leaving many to think the A4 sedan will not be directly replaced.

When pressed on the matter, Duessmann would only say, “We will provide information on the body variants of the future A5 and A7 at a later date”.

While some might be dismayed with the possible demise of the A4 sedan, Hoffmann promised that we “can look forward to many emotional and high-performance derivatives” of the next-generation ICE models, likely meaning there will be S5, RS5, S7, and RS7 variants.

It’s unclear when the naming change will take place, but the A4 and A5 are due for new generations soon, and the current A6 is already five years old.

Some of the number tinkering has already played out with the all-electric Q4 e-tron being sold alongside the slightly smaller Q3, while the upcoming Q6 e-tron to expected live next to the Q5.

The Q6 e-tron is based on the new Platform Premium Electric (PPE) being co-developed with Porsche. PPE will serve as the basis of the next-generation Porsche Macan, and will also be used for the A6 e-tron.

Spy photos indicate the A6 e-tron sedan will look very similar to its concept counterparts, and the A6 e-tron Avant Concept indicates a wagon version is likely too.

MORE: Everything Audi A4