- Audi is performing an embarrassing U-turn over its new model naming strategy.
- Most EV and ICE cars will now share model numbers after buyers were left confused.
- Under the scrapped system EVs got even numbers and ICE cars odd numbers.
Is it any wonder that Audi’s sales are in the toilet right now? The German automaker has gone out of its way to confuse buyers by rehashing its globally understood model strategies in the last few years, and now it’s about to confuse them all over again by changing back.
In 2023 Audi revealed that it was moving all of its ICE-engined models to odd model numbers to allow EVs to occupy the evens. The idea was to create a clear separation between the two types that would make it easier for buyers to distinguish between the two.
Buyers Weren’t Having It
We could see the logic in that, but the shift was always going to require a ton of relearning by the car-buying public, and apparently, those folks weren’t happy. Audi is backtracking on the odds-and-evens naming strategy because customers found it unnecessarily confusing.
So the combustion-powered Audi A6 replacement, scheduled for a reveal on March 4 and was originally going to be shifted to the A7 badge, will now be called A6 after all. Audi already launched the A6 e-tron EV, which is built on an entirely different platform and has different styling.
Related: Audi Overhauling Naming Scheme With Odd Numbers For ICE, Even For EVs
“This decision is the result of intensive discussions and also follows the wishes of our customers as well as feedback from our international dealers,” Audi’s sales and marketing boss Marco Schubert said in a statement.
“Our nomenclature now provides all customers worldwide with an intuitive orientation in our portfolio. We choose the names of our models in a way that reveals size and positioning at first glance.”
Some Models Stay in the Naming Twilight Zone
Okay, so in the case of the A6, Audi made the change before the new mid-size sedan debuted, but what about the ICE A5, which replaced the A4 last year? That car will retain A5 badges and its upcoming electric counterpart will still launch as the A4, as originally planned.
It sounds nuts, but Audi justified the mess to Autocar by claiming that the A4 would be slightly smaller than the A5 (pictured below), so it kind of fits with the idea of a bigger number denoting a bigger car. The electric Q4 and Q6 SUVs will apparently also stick with their even numbers, and the ICE-powered Q5 will retain its odd number, according to the same report.
Audi’s Track Record of Naming Chaos
This isn’t the first time Audi has ruined a long-standing naming system and then been forced to make a U-turn. In 2017 the automaker replaced powertrain badges such as 3.0 TFSI and 2.0 TDI with ones like 40, 50, and 55. The plan in that case was that the numbers would correspond to a range of power outputs in kW and would accommodate EVs and hybrids for which engine size was no longer a good indicator of performance.
But last year we reported that Audi had begun to slowly move away from the system, and long before any of us had even gotten around to memorizing the power ranges those badges referred to. But you’ll still see them on promotional material and online configurators for many of the brand’s cars.
