Performance wagons "definitely" have a future - Audi

Audi plans to still offer high-performance wagons for years to come.

At the reveal of the Audi RS6 Avant GT, CarExpert asked Audi executives if the brand would continue to design high-performance wagons into the future.

“I would definitely say yes, for sure,” Nils Fischer, technical manager of the Audi RS6 Avant GT, told CarExpert.

“I think the past has proven that there was a past for the wagons, and when we look at the cars and how beautiful cars like that still can be developed, we think there’s definitely a future,” product marketing manager Kenneth Dose elaborated.

An Audi spokesperson later added global media should “stay tuned” for future models.

Currently, Audi Australia offers customers a choice of three Avant (Audi talk for wagon) performance models: the S4 Avant, RS4 Avant, and RS6 Avant.

The German brand has offered high-performance wagons since the 1992 RS2 Avant, which was also the brand’s first RS-branded product.

As the brand moves into the electric space, it hasn’t shied away from wagons with the A6 Avant e-tron concept, but Audi has yet to confirm if the production vehicle will spawn a high-performance variant.

The company has previously said it “can imagine” a hot RS6 version. Such a model could potentially offer the RS e-tron GT’s440kW/830Nm dual-motor powertrain.

The A6 e-tron concept rides the new Premium Platform Electric, co-developed with Porsche, which will also underpin the Q6 e-tron SUV and supports both single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains.

It measures 4.96m long, 1.96m wide and 1.44m tall, or around 9mm longer and 58mm wider than an A6 Avant.

The A6 Avant e-tron concept has a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain with 350kW of power and 800Nm of torque, like its Sportback counterpart.

It has a 100kWh battery, 800V technology and 270kW of charging capacity, allowing for 300km of range to be added in 10 minutes.

With Audi still set to offer combustion-powered vehicles until at least 2033 in most markets, there appears to still be plenty of life in its petrol-powered performance models.

Audi’s next-generation A4 Avant is set to be rechristened as the A5 Avant, and spy photos have revealed what appear to be replacements for the current S4 and RS4 wagons.

The latter may adopt a plug-in hybrid powertrain.