Audi is one of the traditional automakers that have committed to an all-electric future sooner rather than later, as the Ingolstadt company will only launch EVs after 2026. In the meantime, we’re getting one more generation of ICE models wearing the Four Rings, including hot ones from Audi Sport. Cue the next-gen Audi RS5 Avant (presently RS4 Avant), a hot wagon that will give the BMW M3 Touring a run for its money.
Last month, Audi confirmed a nomenclature change aimed at aiding the transition to battery-powered cars. As such, the carmaker will reserve even numbers for EVs—the E-Tron suffix will stick around—while ICE models are set to use odd numbers.
How Audi’s nomenclature change affects the A4/A5 range
The regular A4 sedan will only return as an EV in 2024, as Audi CEO Markus Duesmann told German magazine Auto Bild. And while we’re still waiting for details on the next iteration of the current A5 Sportback (five-door), A5 Coupe (two-door) and A5 Cabriolet, the future of the A4 Avant (wagon), which is becoming the A5 Avant, has already been confirmed by the presence of multiple prototypes.
Audi is expected to release the standard A5 models (presumably the A5 Avant and Sportback) later this year. It’s worth noting the prototypes prototypes spotted so far include the standard A5 Avant and S5 Avant warm wagon.
Now, since the CEO added that we should “look forward to many emotional and high-performance models”, it’s difficult not to think about the Audi RS5 Avant. Now, the standard A5 models are coming later this year and the S5 should land in 2024, so we’re expecting the RS5 Avant in 2025.
The next-gen A5 range should use an updated version of the Volkswagen Group’s MLB Evo architecture, which currently serves the A4 and A5 families. This involves longitudinally-mounted engines and standard front-wheel drive with optional Quattro all-wheel drive.
Currently, the S5 features a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 with 349 hp on tap, albeit while relying on diesel power in Europe. Now, Evo Magazine claims Audi won’t downsize these go-fast models, so the V6 firepower should be here to stay. However, the rumor mill talks about this becoming a global engine (i.e., the Old Continent diesels are going away).
The 2025 Audi RS5 Avant will be a plug-in hybrid
Audi has confirmed it won’t take its RS models down the turbo-four path. So while the current RS4 Avant packs a twin-turbo 2.9L V6 with 450 hp on tap, Audi Sport managing director Oliver Hoffmann told Autocar three years ago that the next generation is set to become a plug-in hybrid.
This means we’re expecting that TT 2.9L V6 to stay and deliver well above 500 hp with the help of an electric motor.
Will the Audi RS5 Avant be available in the US?
Wagon sales make up less than 2% of the North American market, so it remains to be seen if Audi is willing to offer the upcoming A5 Avant in the US.
As for the potential Stateside availability of the RS5 Avant, the fact that BMW introduced the first-ever series production M3 Touring (wagon) and isn’t bringing this to the U.S. can’t be reassuring.
Then again, Audi has been offering the RS6 Avant in North America since the 2021 model year, so our fingers are crossed (here’s all we know on the next-gen RS6 Avant plug-in hybrid so far). After all, we wouldn’t want to miss out on a tastefully restrained uber-wagon like the one portrayed in the renderings sitting on our screens.
Digital artist Nicolas Cavero (aka futurecarsnow) relied on the said spied vehicles to bring us the 2025 RS5 Avant. And while we’re on this topic, you can check out the upcoming Audi S5 Avant testing at the Nurburgring in the YouTube clip at the bottom of the story (lens tip to Carspotter Jeroen).
