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Audi's abrupt backflip revealed: German brand reverses confusing naming scheme regarding petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric cars such as the Audi A5, Audi Q6 e-tron and Audi Q8 TFSI e

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Samuel Irvine
Cadet Journalist
4 Feb 2025
2 min read

Audi has reversed the confusing model naming scheme that it assigned two years ago, bowing to feedback from its customers and dealers, the brand said.

Introduced in early 2023, the model naming structure designated even numbers to its electric car range, while odd numbers would denote combustion-powered cars.

Audi started the scheme with the launch of its A5 last year, which replaced the A4 as the brand’s small petrol sedan. The A4, meanwhile, would become the A4 e-tron, a fully-electric small sedan that is based on the A5 but to be marketed as a standalone product.

Those plans have now been back-pedalled for the rest of the range, with Audi saying all-electric models can now share the same combination of letters and numbers with combustion-engine cars.

Further differentiation will continue to be established using Audi’s traditional body styles (Avant, Sedan and Sportback) as well as its already established powertrain codes of e-tron (electric) TFSI (petrol), TFSI e (plug-in hybrid) and TDI (diesel).

2025 Audi S6 Sportback e-tron
2025 Audi S6 Sportback e-tron

Audi confirmed that there will be no retroactive name changes for the models already on sale, so it appears that the new A5 won’t revert to the A4, which for now appears to be staying electric-only ahead of its release later this year.

The new (old) naming scheme will launch globally with the combustion-engine Audi A6 on March 4, which will feature both petrol (TFSI) and electric (e-tron) variants. Petrol versions of the new A6 were set to be named the A7, though that is no longer the case.

Samuel Irvine
Cadet Journalist
Since visiting car shows at Melbourne Exhibition Centre with his Dad and older brother as a little boy, Samuel knew that his love of cars would be unwavering. But it wasn’t until embarking on a journalism masters degree two years ago that he saw cars as a legitimate career path. Now, Samuel is CarsGuide’s first Cadet Journalist. He comes to CarsGuide with an eagerness to report on a rapidly advancing automotive industry, and a passion to communicate the stories car buyers need to know most.
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