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The New Audi RS5 Is Longer, Louder, and Ready for Munich

The gloves are off in Germany’s compact super-sedan war. Before Audi has even officially pulled the silk from the stage lights, the next-generation Audi RS5 has already strutted onto the internet runway—fully exposed, wide-hipped, and spoiling for a fight.

And make no mistake: this isn’t just another RS refresh. This is Ingolstadt consolidating forces. The new RS5 is set to effectively replace the RS4, streamline the lineup, and square up directly against the benchmark bully from Munich, the BMW M3.

A Baby RS6? Don’t Call It Cute.

Based on the new A5, the RS5 wears its RS-specific bodywork like tailored armor. If the standard car is business class, this thing is Special Forces. The widened fenders aren’t cosmetic fluff—they’re visibly broader, with Audi reportedly swapping out the rear doors entirely rather than simply flaring the originals. That’s commitment.

The proportions promise more attitude too. Longer, wider, and lower than its siblings, yet retaining a 2900-mm wheelbase, the RS5 appears planted and purposeful. The face is dominated by a massive grille framed by yawning cooling intakes, while the shoulders—oh yes, the shoulders—channel vintage Quattro muscle in a way that feels both nostalgic and freshly aggressive.

The wheels? A unique six-twin-spoke aluminum design that looks ready to chew through Autobahn asphalt. Around back, the drama continues: a tall diffuser, twin oval tailpipes (because round is for amateurs), and a Formula 1–style brake light for good measure. The sedan gets a subtle decklid spoiler, the Avant a roof-mounted wing. Black or carbon trim is available on the mirrors, side skirts, and bumpers for those who prefer their menace with a gloss finish.

If the Audi RS6 had a smaller, sharper younger sibling, this would be it.

Screens, Alcantara, and Red Buttons

Inside, Audi Sport sticks to its proven recipe: Alcantara everywhere your fingers land, RS logos stamped like passport visas, and red steering-wheel buttons that beg to be pressed irresponsibly.

The tech suite mirrors the broader A5 family but adds RS-specific graphics. Expect an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14.5-inch central infotainment screen, and even a 10.9-inch passenger display—because nothing says modern performance like letting your co-driver monitor lap data while you concentrate on not embarrassing yourself.

Hybrid Power, Properly Applied

Here’s where things get interesting. Audi has confirmed the new RS5 will adopt a plug-in hybrid setup. The likely configuration pairs the twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 with electric assistance, pushing combined output well beyond the S5’s 367 horsepower mild-hybrid arrangement.

Translation: this won’t be some half-hearted eco exercise. Expect a serious bump in torque, sharper throttle response courtesy of instant electric shove, and enough combined output to comfortably exceed its predecessor’s numbers.

Underneath, the RS5 rides on Audi’s PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) architecture—the same bones as the A5 and S5—but fortified with a tighter suspension tune and larger brakes to keep the added electrified muscle in check. In RS tradition, it won’t just be fast in a straight line; it’ll aim to feel surgically precise when the road turns interesting.

The Enemy Camp

Audi isn’t operating in a vacuum. The BMW M3 remains the dynamic yardstick, blending brute force with rear-drive antics (or all-wheel-drive confidence, depending on configuration). Meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG is recalibrating its strategy. The outgoing four-cylinder plug-in hybrid experiment in the Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance has faced its share of skepticism, and the brand appears ready to pivot toward an electrified six-cylinder formula in the C53.

In that context, Audi’s move to hybridize the RS5 with a twin-turbo V6 feels less like compromise and more like calculated evolution.

The Big Picture

This new RS5 isn’t just a facelift with bigger wheels. It’s a strategic reset—one model replacing two, hybrid muscle replacing pure combustion, and sharper design replacing subtlety.

If the leaked images and early details hold true, Audi isn’t just refreshing the RS5. It’s redefining it. And when the covers finally come off officially, Munich and Affalterbach will be watching very closely.

Source: Audi

News

Next-Gen Audi RS5 Will Be a Plug-In Hybrid

Audi Sport is about to cross a line it’s been circling for years. The next-generation RS5 won’t just be faster, sharper, or louder—it’ll be electrified. For the first time, Audi’s compact performance coupe and Sportback will arrive with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, marking a pivotal shift for one of the brand’s most important RS models.

The news didn’t come via a splashy press release or a choreographed reveal. Instead, Audi accidentally let the cat out of the carbon-fiber bag with a briefly posted—and quickly deleted—LinkedIn update that plainly stated: “The new Audi RS 5… will be our first high-performance plug-in hybrid.” Whoops.

But the message is clear: the RS5 is heading into the electrified era, and Audi Sport is betting that batteries and boost can coexist with burnouts and Nürburgring lap times.

Why Audi Had to Go Hybrid

The writing has been on the wall. Europe’s looming Euro 7 emissions standards are brutally strict, and even Audi’s beloved twin-turbo V6 can’t survive on gasoline alone forever. The S5 already made the jump to mild-hybrid tech, so a plug-in RS5 was the logical next step.

Unlike mild hybrids, a PHEV RS5 will be able to drive on electric power alone—at least for short distances. That’s great for city driving and emissions compliance, but the real reason Audi is doing this is much more on-brand: more power.

Electric motors deliver instant torque, and when paired with a turbocharged engine, they create the kind of shove that makes modern super sedans feel like they’ve been rear-ended by a freight train. The RS5 has always been quick. The new one could be genuinely outrageous.

The Powertrain: V6 + Electricity = Trouble (the Good Kind)

Audi hasn’t confirmed specs yet, but all signs point to a familiar heart: the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 from the previous RS4 and RS5, which made 450 horsepower on its own. Add an electric motor to that, and you’re suddenly looking at a very serious number—likely well north of 500 hp.

Audi could go conservative, or it could aim straight at the king of the electrified sports-sedan hill: the Mercedes-AMG C 63 E Performance. That car uses a turbocharged four-cylinder and an electric motor to produce a bonkers 680 horsepower and 1018 Nm of torque. It’s brutally fast—and brutally controversial.

Ironically, AMG is already backing away from that setup, reportedly preparing a return to a six-cylinder engine for the next C 63. Audi, meanwhile, may be sliding into that power vacuum with a hybrid V6 that offers both drama and drivability.

The Weight Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about plug-in hybrids: batteries are heavy. Very heavy.

BMW’s new M5 PHEV tips the scales at a staggering 2,445 kg, roughly 460 kg heavier than the outgoing model. That’s not just extra mass—it’s a handling nightmare waiting to happen.

Audi knows this. The RS5 has always been about precision and balance, not just straight-line muscle. Keeping the new RS5 from feeling like a rolling lithium-ion brick will be one of Audi Sport’s biggest engineering challenges.

If they get it right, the electric motor could actually improve handling by filling torque gaps and helping rotate the car out of corners. If they get it wrong, well… physics doesn’t care about marketing.

Looks: Loud, Wide, and Proud

Spy shots confirm what you’d expect from a modern RS car: subtlety has left the building.

The next RS5 will wear aggressively sculpted bumpers, flared fenders, and a fresh take on Audi’s signature oval exhaust outlets. It’s not pretending to be an A5 with better tires. This thing wants to be seen—and heard.

In a world where some performance cars try to blend in, the RS5 is leaning hard into its role as Audi’s street-legal track missile.

The new Audi RS5 isn’t just another evolution—it’s a philosophical shift. It’s Audi Sport admitting that the future of high performance is no longer purely mechanical, but electrical too.

If Audi can deliver the speed we expect without sacrificing the sharp, confident feel that made the RS5 great in the first place, this could be one of the most important RS cars ever built.

The RS5 is plugging in. Now we wait to see just how hard it hits.

Source: Audi

News

Audi’s 2025 Deliveries Dip, but EV Sales Surge to Record Levels

If you only glance at Audi’s 2025 delivery total—1.62 million vehicles worldwide—you might assume the brand spent the year treading water. That figure is down about 3 percent from 2024, after all, and in an industry obsessed with growth charts and quarterly spikes, any dip looks like a stumble. Look closer, though, and Audi’s year reads less like a retreat and more like a pivot taken at speed, with its electric models doing the heavy lifting.

The most telling detail isn’t the annual total—it’s the trajectory. Audi’s deliveries rose year over year in every month starting in September, a late-year surge that suggests momentum heading into 2026. The order books back that up. Orders climbed more than 13 percent compared with 2024, and demand for electric vehicles jumped by an eye-opening 58 percent. Translation: customers may have hesitated earlier in the year, but by fall they were signing on the dotted line, especially for EVs.

Audi delivered more than 223,000 all-electric vehicles in 2025, a record for the brand and a 36 percent increase over the previous year. That’s not just incremental progress—that’s a clear shift in the mix. Two models, in particular, carried the charge. The A6 e-tron accounted for roughly 37,000 deliveries, while the Q6 e-tron landed closer to 84,000. Together, they’ve become proof points for Audi’s claim that its EV push is finally resonating with buyers beyond early adopters.

Marco Schubert, Audi’s board member for sales and marketing, summed it up with corporate polish but real substance underneath. The product initiative, he says, is “hitting the road,” and the numbers suggest customers agree—especially when it comes to new electric offerings. Audi’s challenge now isn’t convincing people that it can build desirable EVs; it’s sustaining that growth while navigating a global market that’s anything but stable.

Those headwinds were very real in 2025. Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, fierce competition in China, and shifting U.S. tariff policies all weighed on deliveries. Even strong performances in Europe and various overseas markets weren’t enough to fully offset the pressure. In other words, Audi didn’t shrink because its products lost appeal—it shrank because the playing field tilted.

Europe, excluding Germany, was essentially flat at about 464,000 vehicles delivered, but the composition of those sales changed dramatically. EV deliveries in the region climbed roughly 40 percent to around 113,000 units, mirroring the brand’s global electric upswing. Germany, Audi’s home turf and a notoriously tough crowd, told an even more encouraging story. Total deliveries rose 4 percent to just over 206,000 vehicles, and nearly 41,000 of those were all-electric—a staggering 89 percent increase. For a market that still values Autobahn credibility and engineering pedigree, that’s a meaningful endorsement of Audi’s electric lineup.

Across the Atlantic, the picture was more mixed. North American deliveries slipped 12 percent to about 202,000 vehicles, reflecting broader market pressures and a cautious consumer mood. Still, EVs provided a bright spot. Audi delivered approximately 33,000 electric vehicles in the region, up 15 percent and a new record. Canada, in particular, stood out, with more than 37,000 deliveries overall—an 11 percent increase that set a national high-water mark for the brand.

China remains both Audi’s largest single market and its most demanding battlefield. Deliveries there fell 5 percent to around 618,000 vehicles, but Audi still managed to hold the leading position among its core competitors. That’s no small feat given the intensity of local competition and the rapid pace at which domestic brands are rolling out new EVs. Audi is betting that a fresh wave of China-specific models—including the A6L, A6L e-tron, Q5L, and the upcoming AUDI E7X—will help it regain momentum in 2026.

Elsewhere, Audi quietly posted some of its strongest percentage gains. Overseas and emerging markets grew by about 6 percent to roughly 134,000 vehicles, with EV deliveries up 26 percent. Argentina, Turkey, and Egypt all recorded notable jumps, underscoring how Audi’s brand cachet—and increasingly, its electric offerings—are finding traction well beyond its traditional strongholds.

Not every corner of the business surged. Audi Sport deliveries fell 13 percent to around 36,000 vehicles, largely due to reduced availability during model changeovers. That’s less a referendum on demand than a reminder that even performance icons depend on timing and production cycles.

Step back, and Audi’s 2025 looks like a year of recalibration rather than retreat. Yes, total deliveries dipped slightly. But electric vehicles surged, late-year momentum returned, and key markets—from Germany to Canada to emerging economies—set records. For a brand in the middle of a transition this complex, that’s a credible setup for a stronger follow-through.

If 2025 was about proving Audi’s EV strategy could work at scale, 2026 will be about showing it can win—consistently, globally, and under pressure. Based on how the year ended, Audi appears ready to keep its foot in it.

Source: Audi