You’re Gonna Have To Learn Audi’s Badges All Over Again

Since 1994, Audi’s car name department has had the easiest job in the automotive world. Up until the company launched its first electric car, at least. Since the Audi e-tron crossover arrived in 2018, Audi’s naming team has had its thing down, flipped it, and reversed it.

Audi

Founded

1909

Founder

August Horch

Headquarters

Ingolstadt, Germany

Owned By

Volkswagen Group

Current CEO

Gernot Döllner

Production Status

Available

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Today’s announcement, meant to make it easier for everyone, is doing just about the opposite. Bringing back the canceled e-tron name and reversing course on the new numbering system.
Audi Pulls An Infiniti With Confusing Model Restructuring

In 1994, Audi launched the A4, the A6, and the A8. The automaker replaced the Audi 90, Audi 100, and the Audi V8. Simple, easy, memorable. When new models showed up, they got new names. Smaller ones like the A3 got smaller numbers and larger ones like the A7 were higher. When it launched crossovers, those got a Q for Quattro (now quattro), and the number corresponded with their size. S models and RS models were faster. A few oddballs like the Cabriolet and the TT were the only exceptions.
Then, in 2018, the first EV. The Audi e-tron crossover. Then, a couple of years later, the e-tron GT. The GT was a car, not an SUV. Things were starting to mix, but we could all still follow – at least until more EVs began to muddy the water. The e-tron became the Q8 e-tron as part of a plan to launch new models, though it wasn’t related to the Q8, and then there were Q6 e-trons, A6 e-trons, and more.

Audi

The e-tron name on both a gas and electric model that wasn’t just the same car with a new powertrain (see BMW 4 Series GC vs i4) was confusing. Not just to us, Audi said so itself. In early 2023, it said when new models launched, any EVs would get an even number, and their gas counterparts would get the corresponding odd number.
But now it’s all changing again. « Audi heightens clarity for customers through global standardization of model names, » the German automaker said, in a statement that was anything but succinct. « We are providing intuitive orientation for all customers worldwide, » said Marco Schubert, the board member for sales and marketing (who probably had thought he was finally done explaining which models mean what).

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If you have to call something intuitive, it’s almost certainly not, but Schubert said, « This decision is the result of intensive discussions and also follows the wishes of our customers as well as feedback from our international dealers. » He added, « 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. » Several automakers have tried reinventing themselves through new names; Infiniti was just as confusing a decade ago.
e-Trons Mean EVs Once Again, TFSIs Mean Gas Again

With this change, A and Q mean the same thing as always; car or SUV. Or, as Audi calls it, « low-floor and high-floor. » Except that describing them as such ignores Audi’s taller allroad models that have, well, higher floors and A-letter names. The number will continue to go by size class. For example, the A6 will be smaller than the A8. Body styles will be differentiated addendums: Sedan (obvious), Avant (wagon), and Sportback (four-door ‘coupe’).

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To let you know what is powering the car, Audi will append its old codes. So, a small gas sedan will be the A4 TFSI. Except that Audi isn’t renumbering those models that have already changed, so the A4 will now always be an EV and the A5 TFSI gas. The first new model with the new names will be the next A6. It will remain A6 TFSI for the gas model and A6 e-tron when the electric one shows up. TFSIe will be used on PHEV models, and TDI will be used on diesels, except in the US, where the TDI will remain a victim of the Volkswagen Group’s hubris.

Audi

Naturally, Audi thinks it’s all clear. We’re not inclined to agree. Either way, we’ll wait and see if this does anything to help recover from the luxury car company’s 2024 sales crater. For now, if you’re planning to visit your Audi dealer, we suggest using descriptions instead of names. Tell them, « I want the big, fast wagon, » and they’ll direct you to the RS6 Avant, which will be the RS6 Avant TFSI (we think).
Oh, and don’t forget the other number. Audi uses a two-digit number to tell you where the sub-model fits into its own range. The Q5, for example, is offered as the 201-horsepower 40 TFSI and the 261-hp 45 TFSI, both with the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.

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