The Ingolstadt-based brand has a new naming strategy to differentiate between internal combustion engine and electric power.

Rumours have been plentiful about Audi’s new naming structure, but finally Audi has confirmed it. At Audi AG’s Annual Media Conference, CEO Markus Duesmann said the new next-generation Audi A4 will be sold as the A5, while the A6 will become the A7.

Essentially, Audi products with odd numbers (3, 5, 7) will be powered by internal-combustion engines, while the even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8) will have electric powertrains. We’re already seeing this with the launch of the Audi Q8 e-tron, and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to image the ICE-powered Q8 to become the Q7/Q9.

But what about the current-generation electric vehicles with the e-tron name? Well, Duesmann has confirmed it won’t be dropped, which is interesting, as Mercedes-Benz is considering offloading its EQ brand with new vehicles due in 2024, while BMW will continue to use the ‘i’ as a way of showcasing its EV range.

We’re expecting a quiet year locally for Audi South Africa, but Audi global has quite a few products on the way, with a successor to the Audi A4 earmarked for a global debut at some point in 2023. The Audi A6 is due for an update soon too. Audi is expected to continue to build ICE-powered vehicles until the early 2030s even though it won’t introduce any new ICE models beyond 2026.

More: Living with the Audi e-tron GT

“We are on the verge of the biggest product initiative in our history. By 2025, we will have launched around 20 new models, more than 10 of which will be all-electric. We have set the course to go 100% electric. By 2027, we seek to offer an all-electric vehicle in each core segment. We recently decided to launch an additional electric entry-level model below the Audi Q4e-tronas well. The upcoming Audi Q6e-tronmodel series is the first to be based on the new Premium Platform Electric. With it, e-mobility is coming from Ingolstadt for the first time.” said Markus Duesmann during the recent Audi Annual Media Conference.

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