Audi is retiring the A4 sedan and Avant wagon after 30 years of sterling service fighting the BMW 3-Series. But fans of the popular German compact needn’t be worried because the model is being reborn as the A5, adopting a name already used on the two-door coupe and four-door Sportback spun from the A4’s platform.
It’s all part of Audi’s plan to give combustion-engined cars odd numbers and EVs even ones so that customers can more easily navigate their way through the range until the brand goes electric-only. That will happen at some point in the early 2030s, though the automaker has already said it won’t be introducing any new ICE-powered cars after 2026.
But there’s more to the 2025 A4 story than a new badge. The whole car is new, and while we’ve seen A4 prototypes in Sportback sedan and Avant wagon form several times (the traditional sedan won’t return), these latest pictures of an almost disguise-free test car give us the best look yet at how the new model’s design will differ, and drop a big hint that the official reveal date must be very close.
Starting at the nose, the grille has slimmed down, reversing a two-decade trend that saw the grille getting bigger and bigger until it stretched from the tip of the hood to the lowest part of the bumper. Reducing the height of the bumper gives the nose a sleeker, sportier look that’s amplified by intake scoops on either side of it that are reminiscent of the chiseled cheekbones on a catwalk model.
Related: Oh Nein! Audi’s New A5 Avant Breaks Down On The Nurburgring
The lights are new, too, and feature Audi’s new segmented DRLs, while the hood shrinks, and no longer extends down to the grille or wraps over the side towards the wheels. Audi hasn’t said as much, but our guess is that the change has been made to dramatically reduce repair costs after minor accidents.
Moving to the side, the profile is very similar to today’s car’s but this time there’s more sculpting in the lower sections of the doors and sleek flush-mounted handles in the upper parts. As for the rear, well, that’s the one part of this prototype still wearing some disguise, but it can’t prevent us from making out that the rear lights are connected by a full-width light bar.
The engine lineup is likely to be similar to today’s, and comprise a mix of four-cylinder mild-hybrid powertrains, diesels for Europe, plus at least two different 1.5-liter PHEVs, one of which is pictured here. Presuming they’re variants of the same units fitted to the new VW Passat, we could be looking at 201 hp (204 PS) and 268 hp (272 PS) outputs and more than 62 miles (100 km) of driving range. There’ll be no EV model of course, at least not in the A5 line. But we don’t expect that A4 badge to gather too much dust before Audi pushes it back into service on a rival for Tesla’s Model 3.
