New Audi Naming Structure Makes Things Clear as Mud

Over the next couple of years; the new Audi naming structure will go into effect as this luxury brand brings more than a dozen new launches to the market.

Until the new Audi Q6 e-tron arrives, all that Audi will do involves facelifts to the models we already see and know. Strangely, we might not see the same familiar names on the cars that we know, even if the model is a continuation of what we already have in the market. This could make things a bit confusing.

Audi is not ditching combustion engines

It wasn’t long ago that Volkswagen Group announced Audi would be the EV leader for the group. That makes things a bit more interesting. Audi won’t ditch combustion engines until the European Union’s planned ban on registration for new gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles, which doesn’t begin until 2035. The slow progression of new EVs from Audi might make sense as to why the company will continue to build gas-powered vehicles for as long as it can. Of course, continuing onward with these models only adds to the strange new naming of the Audi lineup.

Expect e-tron to continue to be part of the mix

Since the first Audi using e-tron as part of its naming structure arrived, we’ve gotten to know that this moniker is part of the electrification o the brand. At Audi, e-tron means a vehicle that’s 100 percent electric and it will continue to be that way. This part of the new names won’t change things too much at all. Instead, what this will do is help to clarify which models are electric, and which vehicles use gasoline as the fuel. As you might expect, there’s a bit more to this naming change.

Sporty derivatives will continue to use the same badging

When you see the S or RS on an Audi, you know that model is the performance version of that vehicle. This is an important distinction that you can’t shy away from at all. Instead, you’ll have the sporty performance you want but could have it in an electric model or a gas model until they are gone from the market. So far, the new naming of Audi vehicles seems to follow the same path as before. That said, it’s time to get down to what is actually changing about what we call the various Audi vehicles.

Big changes to the Audi naming structure

New Audi models will use a brand-new naming scheme to give us a new way to think about this brand. In the past, the odd numbers indicated a coupe, while even numbers told us of a sedan vehicle. Going forward, the next-generation models will see the electric models using even numbers and gas-powered vehicles using the odd numbers. This distinction doesn’t offer much separation, and someone that’s not familiar with the Audi brand won’t be aware of this change. This new naming system goes a little further to make things even more confusing.

The next-generation A4 will be sold as the A4, and the A5 will move up the naming to be the A7. This can be a bit confusing because the A4 will continue on as an all-electric sedan that won’t need a name change. We should also see a new all-electric A6 to take on the even numbered spot. Are you confused yet? If not, we’ve got a bit more information to make these even murkier when we get to the next year and the complete movement of names that are similar to what we see right now.

What will happen to the preexisting gas-powered Audis?

What happens to gas-powered models that appear to be moving out of position because other cars are taking their place to make room for new all-electric vehicles? In the new Audi naming structure, the current A4 and A6 will become the A5 and A7, but what happens to the current A5 and A7 models? These vehicles should continue to be offered, but what will their names be, and where will they fit in the lineup? Will Audi move away from coupes and only offer a lineup of sedans and SUVs in the future?

The new Audi naming structure allows the brand to make room for some all-electric variants, but these new names don’t make things clear at all. Could Audi have done something better to make these names clear for us?