Audi isn’t shy of messing with its model naming structures. Back in 2017, it replaced its engine size-based identifiers for numbers like 40 and 50 that reflected the power output range, and now it’s about to do something even more radical, switching all combustion-powered cars to odd model numbers, leaving the evens free for EVs. The idea makes perfect sense, allowing Audi to communicate which models are EVs and which are combustion-powered clearly, but it might take the public a while to get its head around the concept. Almost six years after the 30-70 engine identifier came in, we still can’t remember what the exact power range is for a 35 or 45.

How does this all affect the next Audi A5 Sportback? Not at all, in some respects. The next four-door coupe will closely follow the template laid down by the last two generations, offering A4 sedan-style practicality but with the added practicality of a liftback rear hatch, and the added sizzle that comes with a sportier roofline and frameless door glass. But the difference this time is that the A5 Sportback will be the only sedan model offered. The A4 is rumored to be getting the chop as Audi rationalizes its compact model range, meaning family buyers wanting a BMW 3-Series rival with four doors will have to choose from the A5 Sportback seen here, or the related wagon, whose name switches from A4 to A5 Avant.

 

The two body styles appear identical up to the B-pillars, both getting the same new design of LED headlights with distinctive double-row DRLs, flush door handles, a hood that shrinks on all sides, and a shorter grille that no longer extends right to the bottom of the front bumper.

Like the A5 Avant our spy photographers spotted last month, the Sportback will gain a new interior layout with a freestanding digital instrument cluster and separate infotainment tablet, but pairs it with a tapering roofline that trades some of the Avant’s load-carrying capacity for extra style points. Buyers in Europe, who’ll be offered an extensive range of powertrain options likely to include petrol, diesel, and plug-in engines when sales start at the very end of 2023, will have to decide whether they value the Sportback’s style over the Avant’s practicality. But in North America, which should get its cars in spring 2024 and a meaner choice of four-cylinder gasoline engines, only the Sportback is likely to be offered.