Audi A5: successor to A4 makes electrification move – Looking ahead

Highlights

• A4 becomes A5
• More electric
• Again as Avant

While the new Chinese brands are flying around you, established names such as the Ford Fiesta and Opel Insignia are disappearing and fuel prices are skyrocketing, you may sometimes wonder if things can stay the same. Well, then Audi has good news for you. The A4 simply gets a successor with combustion engines and, moreover, in a fairly recognizable package. It will be given a different name: A5. That’s how it is; Audi will use the even numbers for its electric models and will reserve the odd numbers for the fuel models for the time being. As a result, the electric equivalent of the A4 will soon be called A4 (e-tron) and the A5 badge is intended for the fuel mid-sized car. It is not yet known what will happen to the A5 Coupé and the A5 Sportback, but we already know that the new Audi A5 – just like the A4 – will be available as a sedan and Avant.

We have already looked ahead to the Avant, now we are taking a closer look at the sedan, although the question is whether we can still speak of a sedan. It strongly seems that the A5-with-ass is becoming more of a fastback-type and that may mean that the A5 Sportback will not have a direct successor. Furthermore, we can safely label the appearance of the A5 as traditional, which is not surprising given the evolutionary history of the A4.

Audi A5 (Illustration: Larson)

Finally as a plugin

Yet there are some things that the A5 handles slightly differently than its predecessor. For example, the ‘mailbox’ above the grille disappears, the grille itself becomes somewhat wider and at the rear it is especially noticeable that the rear lights are connected to each other with a strip of LED lighting. The new A5 will probably be the last with fuel engines, so it is not very surprising that no brand new base has been prepared for it. It stands on a further development of the MLBevo platform of the current A4 and A5. Yet there is at least one important technical boost. Where the Audi A4 still lacks an important asset compared to the competition because there are no plug-in hybrid versions, the A5 will be plugged in. Not only the A5, but also the sporty RS5 will probably get acquainted with plug-in hybrid technology. With the latter, we again count on a V6 as the basis of the powertrain, possibly even the same 2.9-liter six-cylinder that is already in the front of the RS4. Those who prefer not to work with a plug yet, logically have a choice of a few mild hybrids. It is still highly questionable whether diesels will be on the menu again in the Netherlands. Previously, Volkswagen already deleted the Passat with a diesel engine, so the Audi A5 may await the same fate. We will probably know more later this year and expect market launch in the course of 2024.