Sometimes car names get a bit confusing, and that’s especially the case with alphanumerics. This upscale wagon is the sixth-generation Audi A6, but it’s also the second new A6 Audi’s sending into showrooms, and the first isn’t a sedan or liftback variant of this wagon. Confused? Understandable. In all seriousness, last year, Audi cooked up something called the A6 e-tron. It’s an electric mid-sized wagon or five-door liftback, rides on the same Premium Platform Electric architecture as the Porsche Macan Electric, and the wagon variant won’t be sold in America at this time. Bummer. So how’d we end up with. two new A6s?
See, as of a few months ago, Audi planned for all its electric cars to have even numbers in their names, and all of its combustion-powered cars to have odd numbers in their names. That’s why the A4 got replaced with the new A5, for example. However, since then, Audi’s had a change of face, and the new combustion-powered midsize car will be called the A6. Same as it ever was, except a bit different. That’s how we’ve ended up with two A6s, so let’s dig into the combustion-powered one.
Under the hood, the new A6 launched with a 362-horsepower version of Audi’s three-liter turbocharged V6 and a 48-volt mild hybrid system that goes beyond simply smoothing out stop-start and reducing the number of engine-driven accessories. Audi claims that thanks to a 25 kilowatt motor-generator, the new A6 can move on electric power alone at low speeds, which means it could actually boost city fuel economy beyond taking parasitic load off the engine. Oh, and Audi seems to have fed the whole steering system protein powder, as the steering shaft, steering rack mounting arrangement, and front control arm bushings are stiffer than ever before. With a touch more negative camber as a cherry on top, those changes sound promising for steering directness.
As for the exterior, I see what Audi’s doing here, taking advantage of digital lust for brown wagons. Well, strip off the paint, and what you get is something more traditional than the A6 e-tron, but not necessarily more handsome. Yes, the sharper haunches are very RS6, and the traditional headlight setup is refreshingly traditional, but some details seem a bit cheap compared to the old A6.
It starts up front, where some significant departures have been made in construction. The old A6 had a hood that came all the way to the top edge of the single-frame grille, and an emblem contained entirely within the grille. In contrast, the new one features a short hood with a molded plastic bumper stretching all the way up past the headlights. Not only does this introduce additional shut lines which seem busy, it looks less expensive than before, which makes sense considering it should be less costly to make. At the same time, the Audi badge has migrated upward on the fascia and is now trying to escape the bounding line of the grille. It sits on a large plastic plinth, and well, that doesn’t exactly scream German precision, does it?
The story continues as we move along to the profile of the new A6, as Audi has replaced lovely, solid-feeling pull-out door handles with electronic ones set into big holes in the doors. While a better design for cold climates than flush-fit door handles like on a Tesla Model 3, putting a latch in a hole isn’t the most dignified-looking choice for a luxury vehicle of this, especially when it’s obvious. In contrast, the otherwise gopping BMW 5 Series does make its door handles look like old-school pull-up ones, and as a result, they look more dignified and expensive than the solution on this new A6.
Around back, things are mostly alright, but what are those fake vents spearing off the tail lights? I guess it’s a great compliment to GM Korea when Audi seems to be drawing inspiration from the current Chevrolet Trax tail lights, but while that treatment’s fine on a $20,000 crossover, it’s less fine on a midsize luxury sedan. Oh, and if these Autozone specials are noticeable on a brown car, what will they look like on a silver or white one? Still, if none of these details irritate you, the new Audi A6 has handsome proportions, and it’s a more cohesive-looking product than a BMW 5 Series. The surfacing’s pretty decent too, with subtle curves letting the creases over the fenders and on the lower doors sing.
It’s a similar story on the inside, where many materials from the French-stitched door cards to the smooth-grain leather steering wheel look luxurious, but the design details just aren’t as elegant as we’re used to. The silhouette of the single-frame digital cluster and infotainment screen setup has a shade of Buick to it, buttons in the console are kept to a minimum, and the passenger display seems completely tacked-on. While there are still a few lovely details to the cabin like the satin metallic door handles flowing out of matching trim, the overall interior design seems more haphazard than the cabin of this A6’s predecessor.
Add up everything on the new A6, and the close-ups are a bit concerning considering how Audi built its reputation on sweating the details. From having a team focused on the feedback of buttons and knobs to showcasing ever-tighter construction techniques with incredibly sharp lines and carefully placed, minuscule panel gaps. With the new A6, the radii seem wider, the buttons seem fewer, and the panel gaps seem more numerous than before.
Beyond that, Audi still seems to be figuring out careful naming, as its run into yet another Q8 problem. Now Audi sells two completely different cars, one named A6 and one named A6 e-tron, both of which look a bit similar at 3:00 a.m. on a dark driveway thanks to the brand’s fairly homogenous styling language. In fairness to Audi, this is a battle the brand couldn’t win in its current naming structure. The previous naming plan of even numbers for EVs (Q4 e-tron, Q6 e-tron, etc.) and odd numbers for combustion cars likely would’ve affected brand equity, but sharing names across completely different ICE and electric vehicles also isn’t great for recognition.
What’s more, other automakers have snapped up all the good modifiers. BMW’s use of the “i” prefix seems to be working a treat, and while an e-A6 makes sense, an e-Q6 is far too close to Mercedes-Benz’s electric vehicle naming structure. Granted, take the hyphen out of e-tron, slap an accent over the e, and you’re left with ‘étron’, which means ‘turd’ in French, so maybe a change would be a good idea out of more than just differentiation. So, anyone have any ideas? Answers on a postcard, please.
Top graphic image: Audi
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Audi Has Lost The Plot
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Why does everyone want to get rid of shift handles? They just work.
This is one ugly car. A friend of mine drives a C6 RS6 Avant, the one with the V10. That car is clean and gorgeous to look at, and incredibly discreet to anybody who doesn’t know cars.
Even this base model A6 looks way too aggressive by comparison.
I miss the days when German cars were actually well styled, although I think that ship sailed a while ago.
I assume this isn’t coming to the US.
Is this a joke? Why does it have a Nissan Altima grille? It’s fucking hideous.
Someone pointed out to me years ago that they way Audi hatches, wagons, and SUVs have way more protrusion at the bottom of the hatch than the fastback-ish top makes the cars look like they’re wearing diapers. This is especially the case here
Or, you know….they could use *looks both ways and drops voice to a whisper* actual names and sidestep the issue entirely.
Audi has been making the same car for 25 years. It’s just the same design language, evolved each time to be slightly more aggressive/garish (and not for the better). It’s no longer working, as evidenced by their sales numbers.
Say what you want about BMW, they consistently reinvent themselves (to much controversy and groaning on the internet) and they reap the rewards of having a lineup that feels different and fresh for each generation.
Also, all the beautiful elegance of Audi’s interiors is gone with this new generation of cars. Materials are worse, styling is cluttered, and that passenger screen seems like a complete afterthought.
This. But BMW seems also losing its plot with the latest ugly exterior and the cheap interior. Looking forward to the Neue Klasse though.
BMW isn’t losing the plot overall. Their sales are through the roof. What they lost is the enthusiast plot, and they did it on purpose. They chose to appeal to the conspicuous consumption crowd that thinks no attention is bad attention. For better or worse, they actually buy (or more accurately, lease) cars and constantly trade them back in for the latest and greatest thing.
We don’t do that and they realized that there’s no financial reason to appeal to us by making the lightweight, engaging, tossable, often manual cars of their past. They’ll still throw us a bone every now and then, like the manual Z4 M40i or the G87 M2 (which is cool as hell, fuck the haters), but their primary business is leasing gaudy tech laden monstrosities to influencer types.
Some people really resent them for it. I personally don’t as long as they keep throwing us bones every so often. If Porsche didn’t sell a bazillion Macans and Cayennes we wouldn’t keep getting wild 911 variants, and if BMW doesn’t keep leasing iXs and 7 Series and assorted other buck toothed nonsense to people with more money than taste/folks who don’t have money but want you to think they do we won’t keep getting M cars.
I wouldn’t even say they lost the enthusiast plot. To your point, drive the right BMW and you’re immediately reminded they still know how to make a fantastic sports car. I agree the Z4 is criminally underrated and any M car or even M lite will be wonderful to drive.
Even the “regular” BMWs still drive better than their competitors. It’s not like the past where a regular 3 series will still be fun, but it’s still by far the “sporty” choice compared to rivals. It’s important to judge these cars within their competitive landscape and not to the hydraulic steering of the E46 (which wasn’t perfect anyway).
I think a car company still selling a manual RWD manual coupe can’t be accused of losing the enthusiast plot. Nobody else does it anymore and we should be giving BMW credit. I’m here for it and there’s a G87 in my future (fuck the haters, indeed!).
Their electrics are also absolutely wonderful, and it seems they played their cards right with a combination strategy of ground up EVs (iX) and ICE adaptations (i4 etc). Both of which are ugly and selling like hotcakes.
I rented a 430i (similar to i4) recently and I actually really liked the looks of the car. It’s very low, which tends to soften the aggressive appearance of the grille. The big sweeping videoscreen that is the dashboard is not attractive when off, but man is it nice on a long drive.
Styling that tries waaay too hard. What happened to the adults in the room?
They took their monostable drive selector and simple pull door handles and threw them in the bin on the way to their retirement party.
“…thanks to a 25 kilowatt motor-generator, the new A6 can move on electric power alone at low speeds, which means it could actually boost city fuel economy beyond taking parasitic load off the engine.” My 2008 HIghlander Hybrid did this. As has every Prius ever.
Yeah, I have the A6 wagon from the immediately prior generation, and this has a lot of stylistic downgrades… shame.
Haptic bullshit on the steering wheel, AC controls stuck in the center tablet, and a stupid passenger screen for even more distraction. Until Audi gives up on their dream of trying to be Tesla 2 I won’t be interested in their products…and it’s a bit of a shame because I do think this is pretty appealing on paper.
I mean, not like the driver can reach that easily or change what’s it showing easily…
plus, I don’t know about this car, but I know some have privacy filters so only the passenger can see it.
I do agree the climate control and haptic stuff is no good, though.
Why cant it be A6/A6E and Q8/Q8E, so on and so forth?
Because reasons.
Audi designers are bored, everyone at VW is bored and confused. They’re all wondering why they’re still producing cars when nobody cares or even buys them. They’re like, let’s just produce 3 SUVs and be done with it.
Looks like a Hyundai Veloster, facelifted Hyundai Genesis coupe.
I’d love to see the alternative grille solutions that were on the table in the design studio.. and if the chosen industrialized version we see here was the best solution those discarded designs must be just historically bad.
I think that Audi should just move to naming every single vehicle the “AX”. They could have have things like the “AX etron quattro plus size avant”, or the “AX small sedan” or the “AX halloween XL QSUV” or any other number of long, silly names to make things as confusing as possible.
Fugly inside and out. And the inevitable Outback treatment should they bother to import a few to the US won’t do it any favors. Hard pass, I will keep the two delightful wagons I already have.
Something tells me the author doesn’t like this new A6 – or Audi, in general, judged by how he brought up that old stupid étron thing.
(OK, you don’t like it, but damn, was this article too much!)
My initial impression is that someone managed to stretch a gen1 Veloster front end over the nose of a Taycan wagon… and I kinda like it.
Why, then, did Audi not introduce the odd numbers as EVs and keep even numbers ICE? Or use E instead of A/S/RS. Anyone else using E4, E6… oh wait. the Qs. QE8?
I generally love the Audi wagons more than the other two German rivals but this was a miss for me for all the reasons you pointed out. It does not look like a premium product. I was hoping for a more modest RS6 Avant but this ain’t it.
Small details aside, I think this is a great entry for the wagon segment. Likely won’t see too many on the road but overall impression appears positive.