Audi plugs in a legend: the next A4 will be electric, sharper and finally back

© A. Krivonosov

Audi is bringing the A4 back, but the familiar name will no longer belong to a classic petrol sedan — the next car will be fully electric. According to the brand’s plans, the new A4 will arrive in 2028 to take on the future Mercedes C-Class EV and BMW i3, landing in one of the most important segments for premium brands.

Audi’s Chief Technical Officer Rouven Mohr has confirmed that the new A4 will be one of the first mass-produced cars from the brand to wear the design language previewed by Concept C. Before it, the look will appear on rarer models: the Nuvolari, limited to 499 units, and the production version of Concept C itself — an electric targa underpinned by the future Porsche Boxster/Cayman EV. But the A4 is meant to be the first mainstream four-door Audi built around the new «clarity in design» philosophy.

The intrigue is not only about the exterior. Audi admits that cabin quality in recent years has no longer felt like the benchmark the brand once stood for, and that interiors had become overloaded with screens and glossy plastic. Future models are promised richer materials, less visual noise and more physical controls. For Audi buyers, this could mark a return to the old brand argument: not a loud effect, but the sense of something solid, precise and genuinely expensive.

The electric A4 will sit on the SSP platform — a new Volkswagen Group architecture meant to be a step forward from MEB and PPE. It is expected to deliver better efficiency, more flexible electronics and a higher technical bar for mass-market EVs. One important detail: Mohr wants to keep the Avant body too. In his words, the wagon remains part of Audi’s DNA, and the brand itself once made that format genuinely desirable.

For the market, this is Audi’s attempt to reclaim the role of a trend-setter rather than a follower. BMW and Mercedes are already preparing their mid-size electric sedans, while Ingolstadt has to wait until 2028. On the upside, the A4 will arrive with a brand-new platform, a new aesthetic and the cabin mistakes corrected.

The idea matters beyond one model line: Audi is moving one of its most recognisable names into the electric era without inventing a new index from scratch. The old A4 fades into history, while the new one has to prove that the premium four-door sedan has not yet lost out to crossovers for good.