The V8-powered Audi RS6 isn’t dead after all
Audi has reverted its decision to turn the A6 range all-electric, ensuring the next RS6 receives a V8
The choice to depart from Audi’s long-standing naming structure wasn’t particularly well received. The move was set to turn well-established performance icons, such as the RS6, into electric-only models, and made the lineup difficult to follow for consumers. Now though, just two years since the change was announced, Audi has admitted defeat, reverting the change entirely.
While odd-numbered models were set to retain combustion power for the time being, even-numbered models would not, with the A6 range, and therefore RS6, transitioning to electric power only. The new naming strategy would have seen a combustion-powered ‘RS7 Avant’ effectively replace the current petrol-powered RS6 we know and love, but Audi’s decision to revert this ensures that the next-generation RS6 will receive the V8 it deserves.
> Audi RS5 Avant and saloon spied testing: 500bhp of V6 hybrid power expected
Details on the next Audi RS6 are still few and far between, but VAG’s ‘Ultra Performance V8 Hybrid’ powertrain is now what we’ll find at its core. This powertrain is the same you’ll find in the new Porsche Panamera Turbo Hybrid, Lamborghini Urus SE and Bentley Flying Spur, with it delivering a 789bhp total output figure in its most potent current application. Not only does it boast big power numbers, it manages a usable c40-mile electric range too.
We’ll have to wait some time to see the next-generation RS6 in full, but Audi has already announced that it will show a new ICE-powered Audi A6 on March 4 to kickstart its new (and hopefully final) naming strategy change. Of course, this doesn’t mean that an electric A6 or RS6 is off the cards for the future, with Audi confirming that it will differentiate models with powertrain codes as before (an electric A6 would be called the A6 e-tron, for example). There are no plans to undo what's already been done, either – the latest A5 and S5 won't become A4 and S4 again overnight and the RS4 badge isn't set to make a shock return on the boot lid of the coming RS5 and RS5 Avant.
Marco Schubert, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG, 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. 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.’
