Audi is phasing out its popular A4 sedan and replacing it with a new A5 sedan that is actually a hatchback, according to Car and Driver. 

“Blame the name change, or blame weakening sedan sales, but the A4 is out and replaced by the new A5,” the article says. 

The automaker announced it would change its numbering system and use odd numbers for cars with combustion engines and even numbers for EVs last year, according to motor1. It also said that the A4 would be sold as an A5 in the future, according to the news report. 

Car and Driver reports a few existing models of the A4 will be built in 2025. While the new A5 is a hatchback, it will still be called a sedan by the company, the article says. 

“It’s built on what Audi says will be its last new internal-combustion platform. The Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture makes its debut with the A5 Sportback and the more powerful S5 Sportback. Europeans will get a wagon version, or Avant in Audi-ese.

Prior to the 2025 models, the Audi A5 was a coupe and convertible variant of the A4 sedan. A Sportback model was introduced in 2009, according to The Street. Motor1 reported last week that both the A5 Coupe and Cabriolet would be discounted after 2024. 

The Street says the new A5 is bigger than the outgoing compact sedan by a few inches and has updated styling inspired by its electric e-tron models. 

“This new sedan also comes standard as a hybrid,” The Street reports. “Paired with Audi’s turbocharged, 168-horsepower four-cylinder engine is a 24-horsepower electric motor that can improve efficiency by briefly moving the car on battery power and providing regenerative braking.” 

German luxury cars brands tend to use numbers and letters rather than names to designate car body styles and engine sizes. 

“This confusing system produces head-scratching names like the BMW i5 M60 or ridiculously long ones like the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63 S E Performance,” The Street says. “Volkswagen Group brand Audi is also no stranger to this naming system. Before it standardized its model naming system by giving its sedans and coupes “A” names and “Q”s to its SUVs, it relied purely on numbers. In 1994, its lineup consisted of cars called the 90, the 100, the V8, the S4, and the Cabriolet.” 

Access to OEM position statements, special repair instructions and collision and mechanical information sites for Audi can all be accessed via https://www.oem1stop.com/content/audi.

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Featured photo of 2025 Audi A5/Audi.