Sportbacks Will Replace Saloons at Audi

Audi looks set to kick the traditional three-box saloon design into touch. The German favours the Sportback style because of its inherently better practicality and greater aero efficiency.

Once its current A3, A4, A6 and A8 reach the end of their natural lifecycles, Audi may well say adieu to the conventional four-door sedan. The news comes as the outgoing A4 transitions to A5, moving from a saloon shape to a sleeker sportback-style design.

Andreas Gotz, Audi’s project manager for A5, said: “We played both saloon and Sportback scenarios in the design process.

“We had to juggle with the hinge height” he told AutoExpress. “Everything moved rearwards behind the heads of those in the back. We wanted to get the emotionality of the former A5 and put it in the A4 because we didn’t have a successor for that car. It was not a compromise.”

The Sportback bodystyle has become increasingly popular since it first appeared on the five-door A5 and A7 models launched around 2010. The more aerodynamic design has also been applied to Audi’s SUV range, both in ICE and electric forms.

Audi’s interior designers reckon that the five-door coupe shape is “a good development” for them as well.

“The Sportback is more dynamic but still offers the usability…so it’s the perfect compromise,” they reckon.

The upcoming A6 e-tron has been seen as a near-production concept and that car will also adopt a coupe-like design. 

Expect the flagship A9 to be similarly configured, if it is anything like the Grandsphere concept from the 2021 Munich Motor Show. That too has an aero-inspired silhouette.