Audi announced Monday that it will upend a naming scheme announced last year and have internal-combustion and electric vehicles share nameplates.
In an effort to fit more electric models into its traditional alphanumeric format, Audi previously said it would assign odd-numbered designations to combustion models like the A5 and Q5, and reserve even numbers for EVs along with its current E-Tron suffix, as with the A6 E-Tron and Q6 E-Tron. But that’s no longer the case.
Numbers will once again refer only to a model’s size and positioning in the lineup, Audi said in a press release. The letters A and Q will remain as differentiators between cars and SUVs, respectively, rather than powertrain type, meaning electric and combustion models can now share the same alphanumeric combination, Audi confirmed.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
Powertrain-specific branding such as E-Tron, TFSI for combustion engines, and TFSI e for plug-in hybrids will continue, along with body-style nomenclature like Sportback (used for fastbacks) and Avant (wagons), Audi confirmed.
“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 sales and marketing boss Marco Schubert said in a statement. The return to the previous nomenclature is more “intuitive,” allowing customers to more easily judge a model’s place in the lineup, Schubert added.
In addition to making things easier for customers to understand, the revised naming scheme better accounts for the numerous plug-in hybrids Audi has said it will introduce as a hedge against an unpredictable EV market. They might otherwise fall into the gap of a naming scheme that divides all models into electric or internal-combustion.
The first model affected by this change will be the next-generation gasoline Audi A6, which would have been badged as an A7 under the previous nomenclature. Due to be revealed Mar. 4, it will be styled as an A6 TFSI, while its electric companion model will keep its A6 E-Tron nomenclature.
But while they now share a name, it’s likely that the two models will be based on different platforms. The A6 E-Tron is based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) also used by the Q6 E-Tron and electric Porsche Macan, but as that’s an EV-specific platform, the gasoline A6 will likely use the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) introduced with the latest Audi A5 and Q5.
