Last year, Audi killed the long-running A4 in favor of the A5 Sportback as part of a plan to use odd-number nomenclature for gas cars, and even numbers for EVs. Audi has since abandoned that bizarre plan, but the A4 was still a casualty. Now, however, the A4 is coming back... as an EV.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told Autocar that the company is developing a new A4 EV as part of "the biggest change in the history of the company." Döllner has been pretty open about the fact that Audi lost its way over the last few years, and he is trying to right the ship. The Concept C is Audi's statement of intent, previewing not only a future electric sports car, but a new direction for the brand.
We'll have to wait some years for the A4's comeback, though. Döllner said that the A4 would ride on the Volkswagen Group's upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), which won't arrive until 2028 at the earliest. The SSP platform will also underpin an electric VW Golf, among other models across the Group. Right now, Audi uses the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture co-developed with Porsche for the A6 and Q6 E-Tron, VW's MEB platform for the Q4 E-Tron, and Porsche's J1 architecture for the E-Tron GT.
Audi will be late to the party with its compact EV sedan, as both the new BMW i3 and Mercedes C-Class EV are set to debut next year. It's interesting that Audi decided not to just use the PPE platform to make a new A4 but is instead waiting for the improved SSP architecture. This new platform will be the first to reflect VW's collaboration with Rivian to create a software-defined vehicle, so the A4 should be a better competitor to the i3 and C-Class EV.
Döllner said that the A4 will get a design inspired by the Concept C, so it should look quite different from Audi's current EVs, which, other than the E-Tron GT, are quite bland. The new A4 should also get a truly Audi-worthy interior, if the Concept C is of any indication.
The A4 was one of Audi's most recognizable nameplates, first arriving in 1994 as a 3 Series/C-Class rival. By contrast, the A5 is newer, debuting in 2007 as a two-door coupe and eventually gaining a four-door Sportback model. Rather than having overlapping four-door models, Audi decided to go all in on the hatchback A5 Sportback last year, killing slow-selling two-door models at the same time.
Bringing a truly competitive A4 back can't come soon enough.
