2024 Audi RS Q4 e-tron rendered

Former Audi chairman Rupert Stadler said the German car-maker had plans to develop a piping-hot Audi RS Q5 super-SUV as long ago as 2016 and we’re still waiting for a hard-core RS-branded version of the brand’s popular mid-size SUV to rival the BMW X3 M and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S.

Now, as the next-generation Audi Q5 comes into focus in 2024, ahead of its Aussie market launch in 2025, Audi Australia has ruled out a swansong RS version of the current Q5 – but left the door open to an RS Q4 e-tron, which would be a high-tech mid-size electric SUV alternative to any future RS Q5.

Audi Australia director Jeff Mannering told carsales the chances of seeing an RS Q5 any time soon were not good.

“I’d probably say nil,” he said. “I'll probably call that one.”

Like most European and luxury car manufacturers, Audi is banking on an all-electric future and plans to cease building combustion engines from 2026.

This has evidently put the kybosh on an RS version of the current (and almost certainly next-generation) Audi Q5, which was expected to be powered by the same red-hot Porsche-developed 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 (331kW/600Nm) found in the Audi RS 4.

“So would we like to see and an RS Q5? Of course. I would definitely put my hand up straight away,” said Audi Australia product planning manager Matt Dale, who decides what does and doesn’t roll into Aussie showrooms.

“But what we will see in future is some exciting product that will broaden that [high-performance SUV] scope into electrification as well. And you will start to see that performance come through in electrified vehicles,” he said.

So how about an Audi RS Q4 e-tron to take on the BMW X3 M and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S instead?

“Let’s see what happens in the next two years or so,” said Mannering, refusing to rule out an RS-badged Q4 e-tron, which could look like the vehicles in the AI-generated images you see here.

“You might see some of the in-between cars we were talking about that might come,” he said, referring to around 20 new EVs planned to launch by 2026 – which will include a brand-new all-electric Audi R8 supercar.

“Maybe there’s a performance model of that [Q4 e-tron], but let’s wait and see,” he said with grin, reiterating that an avalanche of all-new models will cascade into Audi showrooms over the next two years.

* Digital images generated by AI

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au