Like the rest of the automotive industry, Audi is in the midst of a major sea change in its vehicle lineup. With that will come new names for the automaker’s upcoming electric and traditional vehicles, the company’s CEO, Markus Duesmann, has revealed.
Audi isn’t giving up on its alphanumerical naming scheme, but will massage it a little bit going forward. As the German automaker transitions from internal combustion vehicles to all-electric ones, the nameplates will be split into two categories, reports Germany’s Auto Bild.
“In the future it will be like this: the odd numbers will be the combustion engines and the even numbers will stand for the battery-electric vehicles,” Duesmann told the outlet.
Read: BMW May Rename Entire Range For The EV Age
That change will start with the A4, which will be renamed the A5 in the next generation, while the A6 will be called the A7. There will continue to be an A4 and an A6, it’s just that they will soon be all electric.
The decision is a departure from the current naming logic, in which the odd-numbered vehicles, such as the A5 and A7, are coupe versions of even numbered sedans – a distinction that has carried over to its SUVs as well.
How the company will distinguish between body styles remains to be seen, but Duesmann said that it will provide more information about that “at a later date.” He added that Audi fans can “look forward to many emotional and high-performance derivatives” in the future.
Despite attempting to divide its lineup so that it is clearer which vehicles are electric and which aren’t, Audi will not drop the e-tron suffix. Its chief technology officer, Oliver Hoffman, said that customers now understand that the name stands for all-electric and that the company wants to stick with that.
This isn’t the first time Audi has had to adjust its naming conventions. The automaker’s first modern EV was called the e-tron, but was recently rebranded as the Q8 e-tron to make its electric lineup less confusing.
