Less bizarre than it sounds
A Hummer is an electric SUV, MG makes electric hatchbacks and the Ford Mustang is now also SUV-like with an electric drivetrain. Then an Audi A7 can simply be an Avant, right? That seems possible, it will happen. These photos show the very first Audi A7 Avant ever, although it is less special than its name sounds.
About six years after Mercedes-Benz introduced a more dynamic alternative to the E-class with the first CLS, Audi launched a sleeker alternative to its A6 with the A7 Sportback. Since we know the A7 Sportback, it has always been a slick five-door, with that one strange exception in China. The second generation A7 Sportback has already been taken off the market in the Netherlands, but the A7 is not disappearing. Audi is not afraid to mix up names and designations. A few years ago, Audi exchanged the ‘1.0 TSI and 2.0 TDI’ type designation for the current ’35 TFSI and 40 TDI’ designation and recently the electric SUV E-tron was renamed Q8 e-tron. However, more is going to happen. All models with a combustion engine are given an A or Q, which is followed by an odd number as the model name. The A’s and Q’s with an even number behind them become EV’s. The successor to the current A4 will therefore merge with the A5, and the A6 with combustion engines will be followed by a new series of A7s. In the form of the A6 e-tron and A6 e-tron Avant, Audi has a duo ready that will take over the A6 name.
This will be an A6: the electric A6 e-tron Avant.
This means that there will soon be something like an Audi A7 Limousine and an Audi A7 Avant, in addition to those in countries where the Sportback is still delivered. We aim for 2024 to be the year in which the A6 with combustion engines is replaced by the new A7 series, although you should not expect it in the first half of that year. No PPE platform underneath, as under the soon-to-be electric A6 e-tron, but a further development of the MLB base that serves under the current model. Logically, there will be no fully electric models of the A7 Limousine and Avant, but it is expected that Audi will go a long way with plug-in hybrid machines. In fact, it is even quite possible that the new RS models will also have a plug.
The A7 Avant is called the successor to the current A6 Avant. So with combustion engines.
In terms of design, the A7 Avant that you see in these photos follows the design path that Audi is taking with its new models, but it is clearly not exactly the same as the A6 e-tron (Avant). For example, the Audi A6 e-tron has lighting spread over two floors, while the A7 Avant in these photos – just like the new A4 – has a more traditional front. Striking: the rear window of the Audi A7 Avant on these spy plates appears to be relatively flat.
So a lot is going to change, although a lot will actually remain the same.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl