Dalla prossima generazione, la segmento D di Ingolstadt si chiamerà A5. E conserverà la sola versione Avant, in aggiunta all'inedita Sportback: niente più berlina tradizionale. In arrivo nell'estate dell'anno prossimo
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It will sound strange to its admirers to call it A5: a bit like getting the name of your wife or girlfriend wrong, but without consequent penance. On the other hand, she is the one who chose to change. They, somewhat conservative types, demanding but at the same time clinging to unshakable certainties, will surely stumble upon some slip of the tongue before getting used to it. The good thing is that, name aside, they shouldn't struggle to assimilate the new
Audi A4 - sorry, A5 -, which presumably will remain, basically, faithful to what it has always been, especially in the latest series: a shining example of Teutonic precision, mechanical efficiency and modern luxury, characteristics that determine the figure of this model in the difficult premium D segment market, where it competes with the various Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series and Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Last endothermic turn. For the sixth - and last with the combustion engine - generation, no escape in the field of electric tout-court. But this does not mean little innovation and, above all, a marginal role for electrification. Before going into detail, however, a couple of explanations. The first on the name. The new Audi A4 has chosen to be called A5 due to reasons of force majeure: with the increase in electric models, which Ingolstadt have decided to baptize with equal alphanumeric acronyms (at least as regards the traditional range), the Audi nomenclature has been revised by relocating the odd figures on the endothermic front. And the "old A5", what will happen to it? It will simply disappear, as part of a simplification of the offer regarding the medium-large size range. The new A5 will be offered in two body variants: Avant and Sportback.
Success story . The other clarification concerns the life cycle of the current series, codenamed B9. Given that the next D-segment won't be presented before the new year, and will then go on sale in the summer of 2024, the current A4 is nearing the end of an unusually long career. From the start of production, in mid-2015, to the arrival of the heir at the dealership, nine years will have passed: two more than the canonical seven-year period that usually marks the series of premium sedans and station wagons. The reason for such a delay is due to a strategic decision, in the face of extremely unfavorable economic conditions that hindered the final rush of the B9: the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, not to mention the long shortage of microchips. Phenomena that have altered the normal course of the market, suggesting that the top management of the company should stall and wait for better times. On the other hand, we are talking about a model which, although far from the volumes of the first decade of the 2000s, until 2019 had between 100 and 160 thousand deliveries per year in Europe (source Casalesebase.com).
How it changes. Having closed this necessary digression, let's try to understand what the future Audi A5 will be like. Focusing also on the
Avant , particularly appreciated in our market, also for the type of bodywork, versatile and sporty at the same time: a trait that the new model seems to want to further underline, highlighting the shoulders and, visually, pushing the entire side B towards the asphalt. As expected, the front of the D segment has also been completely redesigned, reviewing the profiles of the grille, the facets of the bumper and the shape of the light clusters, the maximum expression of which (with LED technology) could benefit from further evolutions, also updating the signature bright, which at the end will be traced by thinner lights. The "climb" in the model's nomenclature should go hand in hand with an increase in size, currently difficult to quantify in centimeters, but perhaps enough to affect the wheelbase. If this were the case, the rear passengers would end up enjoying more space, even if the air will change especially around the driving seat, thanks to the new architecture of the dashboard and the human-car interface, the result of a trend that will be inaugurated by Q6 e-tron.
Hybridized RS? Still built on the Mlb platform, therefore with the longitudinal engine architecture, which houses four and six-cylinder hearts in the bonnet, and offered only with the automatic transmission, the medium-large Audis[1] will continue to focus on a multi-energy range , including diesel, today entirely electrified by light hybrid (with the exception of the testosterone-filled RS4 Avant). The mild hybrid will remain a fundamental ingredient and will gain consistency: to be clear, it will be a 48 volt system, capable, like its rivals (see Mercedes C-Class), of giving a boost to the thrust. But above all what is visible is the transition to plug-in, a technology previously unknown to the A4. The addition of the plug should have a double impact: on the one hand, introducing a rather versatile variant, capable of offering a hundred kilometers of autonomy in electric mode on the standards of the Volkswagen group's latest generation rechargeable hybrid; on the other, supporting performance, thus guaranteeing a future for the RS version even in full transition. A future, perhaps, free from the V6 petrol, if Audi were to conceive the performance hybrid around a four-cylinder unit. We will see. After all, it wouldn't be the first case of a premium brand going in this direction: Mercedes docet.
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