On July 31, the Audi A6 e-tron family officially made its global debut. The new car has launched two body styles, namely the Sportback coupe and the Avant station wagon, and also launched the S6 e-tron performance version model.
The new car is positioned as a medium and large pure electric sedan. It is the second model developed on the PPE pure electric platform after the Audi Q6 e-tron. The PPE platform is a new electric vehicle platform jointly used by Audi and Porsche. It is understood that the subsequent Audi A6 e-tron will be domestically produced, and like the domestic Audi Q6L e-tron, the size will be lengthened. After domestic production, it may be named Audi A6L e-tron, and it may be domestically launched as early as the beginning of 2025.
In terms of appearance, the new car basically continues the design concept of the previously released concept car. The front face adopts a large-area polygonal closed grille design, with the brand LOGO embedded in the middle, and is matched with long and sharp split headlight groups on both sides. The LED daytime running lights are composed of numerous luminous bodies, which are highly recognizable after being illuminated. The front bumper is covered by a large amount of black decoration and is designed with diversion grooves on both sides to enhance the sportiness of the vehicle.
On the side of the vehicle body, the new car adopts a fastback body style design, and the visual effect is that the vehicle body is relatively slender. In addition, the highlight of the new car is the use of an inset door handle and the blackening treatment of the window frame to strengthen the sportiness of the vehicle. At the rear of the vehicle, the overall design of the new car is relatively full, and it is matched with the very popular through-type taillight group design. The same brand LOGO is embedded in the middle, which can be illuminated at night. The lower bumper part adopts a black diffuser enclosure design, which is quite sporty overall. In addition, the new car’s rear logo has the “A6” logo. According to the introduction, in the future, A6 will become exclusive to electric models, and the next-generation fuel version A6 will be named A7. According to the official statement, in the future, fuel version models will use odd-number series, and pure electric models will use even-number series.
In terms of size, the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback coupe has a length, width and height of 4928/1923/1487mm respectively, and a wheelbase of 2946mm; the Audi A6 e-tron Avant station wagon has a length, width and height of 4928/1923/1527mm respectively, and a wheelbase of 2946mm. In comparison, the height of the station wagon version is 40mm higher than that of the coupe version.
In terms of interior, the new car adopts the latest interior design language of the Audi family. The center console adopts the design concept surrounding the driver and is equipped with an integrated curved continuous screen composed of 11.9 inches and 14.5 inches. The in-vehicle infotainment system is built on the Android Automotive OS operating system. In addition, the new car’s shift mechanism has also been changed from an electronic shift lever to a more compact electronic slider style, and a 10.9-inch passenger entertainment screen is provided for the passenger, which is more concise but does not lose the sense of technology.
In terms of power, the Audi A6 e-tron is built on the PPE pure electric platform and will provide rear-wheel drive, four-wheel drive and S performance versions. Among them, the maximum power of the rear-wheel drive version of the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron is 210kW and 270kW respectively. The high-power model is equipped with a 100kWh battery pack, and the cruising range exceeds 750km; 100kWh battery pack, and the cruising range exceeds 750km; the maximum power of the four-wheel drive version is 315kW, and the cruising range exceeds 700km. The Audi A6 Avant e-tron is equipped with a 100kWh battery pack, and the highest cruising range exceeds 720km.
China is Audi’s largest single market globally. It has already arranged three joint venture companies including FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC Audi and Audi FAW in China, but its performance in the Chinese market is not good. The official website shows that currently the new energy vehicles sold by Audi in China include Q2L e-tron, A6L e-tron, Q4 e-tron, e-tron, Q5L e-tron, etc., but the sales performance is not outstanding. Retail data shows that in the first half of this year, the model with the highest sales volume is Q4 e-tron, with a sales volume of 7471 vehicles, Q5 e-tron is 2200 vehicles, e-tron is 304 vehicles, and Q2L e-tron is only 7 vehicles.
At present, the pattern of the electric vehicle market is being reshaped, and Audi is accelerating the transformation to electrification. The arrival of this Audi A6 e-tron also means that the Audi brand has taken a big step forward in the field of electrification transformation. Currently, Audi has four electric platforms to choose from, among which the PPE is the most competitive platform. The Audi Q6L e-tron is the first model built on the PPE platform, and this Audi A6 e-tron is the second model built on this platform. As for whether the subsequent two models can take on the responsibility, let’s wait and see. Considering the positioning of the new car, it is expected that after the subsequent new car is launched, it will compete with models such as the BMW i5, NIO ET7, AVATR 12, Mercedes EQE, etc. However, since the price of the new car has not been determined, the “Automotive Industry Focus” will also continue to pay attention in the future.
According to the plan, starting from 2026, the new models launched by Audi for the global market will all be fully switched to pure electric vehicles, and the production of internal combustion engine models will be gradually stopped by 2033. By then, all of Audi’s own production bases in the world will be put into the production of electric vehicles. In terms of subdivided products, a blogger previously exposed Audi’s product plan. In the second half of this year, Audi will launch new models such as the new Q2L and the new A3; in 2025, three models such as the new Q5L, the new A4L and the A6L e-tron will be launched; in 2026, models such as the new A6L, Q7 and Q3 and the new flagship Q9 will be launched.
