Spy Shots – Audi A7 Avant (aka new A6 Avant)

The road to the electric future is initially two-track: The all-electric Audi A6 e-tron will be accompanied by a hybridised combustion engine called the Audi A7 in both saloon and Avant versions. In 2024, the A6 as we know it today will be a thing of the past – but our spies in Ingolstadt have now managed to catch a first prototype of the new Audi A7 in various locations.

The last new Audi with a combustion engine will be released in 2026 – around two years after the next Audi A6, sorry Audi A7, is launched. Both, the technical strategy and the change in nomenclature, require an explanation. Let’s start with the powertrain: while decisive boundary conditions such as the upcoming Euro 7 emissions standard and the associated costs provide guidelines, the path to electric mobility must be multi-track due to the only slowly growing acceptance among customers.

This is where the future Audi A6 e-tron models come into play. We expect to see these by the end of 2024, based on the new PPE (Premium Platform Electric) technology developed together with Porsche. However, this does not mean that the previous A6 blueprints on the MLB platform used to date for vehicles with longitudinally installed engines and front-wheel or quattro all-wheel drive have been shelved. These lead to the next, decisive step from Audi’s point of view: making electric cars and combustion engines in the same class on different platforms distinguishable by their model names. As all even numbers are to be reserved for electric cars in future, A4 and A6 will become A5 and A7 accordingly. We do not expect the market launch of the reinterpreted Audi A7 before the end of 2024, while the price of EUR 52,200 for the current combustion-powered Audi A6 is likely to rise as usual.

AUTOMEDIA

If you don’t want to have to rely exclusively on plug sockets and charging points from one day to the next, the Audi A6 successor and the future Audi A7 model family will still be able to drive with a reciprocating piston engine after 2024. As with the smaller A5, this will be based on a further developed MLB platform, which – parallel to the electric PPE – will then be called PPC, which stands for Premium Platform Combustion. The future combustion engines are likely to be increasingly mild hybridised or, as plug-in hybrids with larger batteries and clever packaging, achieve a purely electric range of around 100 kilometres. As with the A5, the A6 successor is also likely to prioritise the use of four-cylinder engines. The continuation of the eight-cylinder RS 6 in this form therefore seems questionable – it is quite possible that particularly potent S and RS models will rely on a PHEV solution with six cylinders in the future.

Although combustion engines and electric cars will differ technically, they are by no means worlds apart visually. The A5, which has already been spotted as a prototype, shows similarities to the A6 e-tron Concept study presented in 2021. A genuine single-frame radiator grille here, a closed radiator grille there, flared wings as a reminiscence of the quattro history and narrow LED light units at the front and rear here and there.

Similarities between the Audi A6 e-tron and the future Audi A7 can also be expected in the cockpit design and the associated operating concept. As before, there will be a choice between touchscreen, steering wheel and voice control, but the wider cockpit screen will adapt its variable layouts more closely to the operating and driving situations and only display the content that is relevant for the moment.

It is certain that the new Audi A7 model family will also include a sedan version known This is likely to be presented alongside the estate seen here which will appeal primarily to families thanks to its increased space and greater versatility. The boot capacity of currently 415 to 1370 litres (still the current Audi A6 Avant) is likely to set the standard.

 It is unclear whether the Audi A7 will again be available as a Sportback. On the one hand, a hatchback should also look good on the new model family, on the other hand, the Audi A6 e-tron Concept shows off precisely such flowing lines, so that an additional Sportback model seems almost redundant.