Hot Audi wagons are here to stay

Audi has reaffirmed its love of fast wagons and confirmed the popular niche won’t be going anywhere any time soon, promising more high-performance Avant models for years to come.

The news comes in the wake of the 2024 Audi RS 6 Avant GT’s global debut, where brand executives were asked about the prospects of fast wagons continuing in the Audi portfolio, to which RS 6 GT technical project manager Nils Fischer gave a definitive and promising ‘yes’.

“I would definitely say yes, for sure,” he said.

Product marketing manager Kenneth Dose expanded on Fischer’s directness by explaining how hot wagons – ‘Avants’ in Audi speak – have long been a key component of the brand’s identity and would continue to be.

“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,” he said, before a brand spokesperson encouraged fans to “stay tuned” for future models.

The original fast Audi wagon – and indeed RS product – was the 1992 RS 2 Avant; a compact five-door co-developed with Porsche and packing a formidable 232kW/410Nm via quattro all-wheel drive, which gifted it a 0-100km/h time of just 4.8 seconds.

A dynasty was born with the RS 2 Avant as it set the tone for Audi’s future mid-size and large passenger performance heroes, with the S6 Avant following in 1995, the S4 Avant in 1995, the RS 4 Avant in 1999 and the original RS 6 Avant in 2002.

Swathes of fans and customers were endeared by these models’ unique blend of sports car-beating performance and practicality, backed by Audi’s famed quattro all-wheel drive.

The S4, RS 4, S6 and RS 6 all have modern equivalents, with the RS models now being offered exclusively as Avants. Their sedan counterparts come in the form of the liftback RS 5 and RS 7 Sportback models.

The recipe has proven so fruitful for Audi that its arch-rival BMW has now released an all-paw M3 Touring wagon and is about to revive the formidable M5 Touring nameplate to try and muscle in on the four-ringed brand’s success.

Upcoming hot wagons from Audi include the next-generation RS 5 Avant, which will take over from the current RS 4 and more than likely be the first hybridised Audi Sport product, given it’s tipped to feature a turbocharged V6 plug-in hybrid system.

Later this year we’ll also see the production version of the Audi A6 Avant e-tron, which was revealed to the world with at least S6 levels of power and performance, proving fast wagons are here to stay at Audi even in its battery-electric era.

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