Audi will adopt a standard power output designation for its models worldwide from late 2017 when the new A8 launches.
AUDI HAS ANNOUNCED it will adopt power-based model designations from 2018. In a statement overnight, Audi announced it would maintain the naming structure from A1 to Q7 but that within the model families, combinations of two numbers standing for the power output of that model, much likes Volkswagen does.
Audi said its new naming structure would apply to internal combustion engine vehicles as well as hybrid and electric vehicles. The reference value for the new model designations is the power output of the individual model in kilowatts (kW).
Here’s how Audi describes it: “Audi is therefore creating sub-classifications within the range based on performance levels, each identified by a two-numeral combination. For example, the numeral combination “30” will appear on the rear of all models with power outputs of between 81 and 96 kW (110PS and 130PS). And “45” represents power outputs of between 169 and 185 kW (230PS and 252PS). In each case the numerals appear along with the engine technology indicator – TFSI, TDI, g-tron or e-tron”.
That doesn’t seem confusing at all… All S and R models will retain their ‘classic’ names.
“As alternative drive technologies become increasingly relevant, engine displacement as a performance attribute is becoming less important to our customers. The clarity and logic of structuring the designations according to power output makes it possible to distinguish between the various performance levels,” said Dr Dietmar Voggenreiter, Board of Management Member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG.
The changes will kick off with the new Audi A8 generation in the autumn of 2017. First among the two six-cylinder engines to be redesignated will be the 3.0 TDI with 210 kW – as the Audi A8 50 TDI, and the 3.0 TFSI with 250 kW – as the Audi A8 55 TFSI.
In the coming months, all Audi model series launched on the market will be assigned the new performance designations beginning when they are offered for sale. Audi will change the designations of the remaining model series in the current product range in time for the new model year changeover in the summer of 2018.
I agree with the notion that engine capacity is becoming less relevant in the naming structure, but I will not even attempt to master this new naming structure which is confusing even to those in countries that use PS as a measure of power output!