Final yr, Audi killed the long-running A4 in favor of the A5 Sportback as a part of a plan to make use of odd-number nomenclature for gasoline automobiles, and even numbers for EVs. Audi has since deserted that weird plan, however the A4 was nonetheless a casualty. Now, nonetheless, the A4 is coming again… as an EV.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner informed Autocar that the corporate is creating a brand new A4 EV as a part of “the largest change within the historical past of the corporate.” Döllner has been fairly open about the truth that Audi misplaced its manner over the previous few years, and he’s making an attempt to proper the ship. The Idea C is Audi’s assertion of intent, previewing not solely a future electrical sports activities automotive, however a brand new path for the model.
We’ll have to attend some years for the A4’s comeback, although. Döllner stated that the A4 would journey on the Volkswagen Group’s upcoming Scalable Techniques Platform (SSP), which will not arrive till 2028 on the earliest. The SSP platform can even underpin an electrical VW Golf, amongst different fashions throughout the Group. Proper now, Audi makes use of the Premium Platform Electrical (PPE) structure co-developed with Porsche for the A6 and Q6 E-Tron, VW’s MEB platform for the This fall E-Tron, and Porsche’s J1 structure for the E-Tron GT.
Audi can be late to the occasion with its compact EV sedan, as each the brand new BMW i3 and Mercedes C-Class EV are set to debut subsequent yr. It is fascinating that Audi determined to not simply use the PPE platform to make a brand new A4 however is as an alternative ready for the improved SSP structure. This new platform would be the first to replicate VW’s collaboration with Rivian to create a software-defined automobile, so the A4 must be a greater competitor to the i3 and C-Class EV.
Photograph by: Audi
Döllner stated that the A4 will get a design impressed by the Idea C, so it ought to look fairly completely different from Audi’s present EVs, which, aside from the E-Tron GT, are fairly bland. The brand new A4 also needs to get a really Audi-worthy inside, if the Idea C is of any indication.
The A4 was one in every of Audi’s most recognizable nameplates, first arriving in 1994 as a 3 Collection/C-Class rival. In contrast, the A5 is newer, debuting in 2007 as a two-door coupe and finally gaining a four-door Sportback mannequin. Moderately than having overlapping four-door fashions, Audi determined to go all in on the hatchback A5 Sportback final yr, killing slow-selling two-door fashions on the identical time.
Bringing a really aggressive A4 again cannot come quickly sufficient.
