News appears to be bubbling to the surface this week following a recent European PR launch programs for American journalists in Germany and Austria. Likely stemming from that is the question on most Audi performance aficionados’ minds: final confirmation on whether Audi of America will make the RS 5 Avant happen.
THE BACKGROUND
Several waves of global car journalists, including one group of American publications I was not part of, were in Ingolstadt to see and photograph the Audi Q9 interior. Following that, the group appears to have headed to Austria to drive the RS 5. A very short list of Americans had previously sampled the car in Morocco and I even caught up with Tony Quiroga of Car and Driver to record a podcast about that experience in a podcast months ago, but this was a slightly larger group and their driving impressions appear set for an embargo drop tomorrow (Thursday, May 28).
Since I wasn’t on that trip, am not part of that embargo and technically don’t know anything for certain beyond what my own contacts have told me, I’m going to go ahead and share what I know with a promise of intent to share what I learn over the course of the week should more solid information be reported by those who were there.
What I do know is that a friend on the trip and fellow Avant enthusiast (and what journalist isn’t?) shared an image of an RS 5 Avant. I asked if there was any news. Effectively, I was told “nothing to talk about.” Ever the optimist, I take that not as a “no” and where there’s not a “no”, there is a chance… just like my previous take on Audi of America’s response when the first RS 5 images dropped, mentioning that the decision effectively hadn’t yet been made.
SIDENOTE
In another episode of the ooooIYKYK Podcast about Audi, I caught up with Nish Pillai, owner of one of the 25 Nogaro Blue RS 6 RS Tribute Edition cars and a prominent RS Avant collector. We dug into that very subject — whether or not the RS 5 Avant would come to America, how the cards were stacked against it and how that might come to pass. It’s worth a listen and you can do that HERE.
So, I did what I always do. I started hitting my network of friends and players in the space and word came back that it may already be a done deal.
“You can thank Vito Paladino for that,” was a vague yet seemingly conformational response I was told.
While I haven’t met Audi of America’s new CEO Vito Paladino, I’ve heard great things. That’s him riding in the RS 5 fast lap car at the Miami Grand Prix. Vito hails from Audi Canada, where that small market attached to ours as a business unit continues to do cool enthusiast activations. It seems clear Vito gets it and if the word reaching me is true, one can add an exclamation point to that statement.
That brings us back to some of the news bubbling up ahead of tomorrow’s embargo lift. Ars Technica mentions a conversation with Audi AG CEO Gernot Döllner about the RS 5 Avant in the context of his suggesting the era of a fully globalized product strategy may be over — presumably meaning markets need to be more aggressive about choosing the right cars for themselves.
Döllner’s response to the group of American journalists, as reported by Ars Technica, was this:
“I would see the more sporty versions like RS or, of course, an allroad version would be a fit. I’m really positively surprised to say that our dealers… they really asked for the RS models to be brought to the US as wagons as well. And we didn’t have that in our base plans, but I think we are doing that. And from the reaction, we could think about doing stuff, but right now there are no plans.”
I’m not 100% sure how to read that, but I’m 98% sure and the allroad reference is notable.
ALLROADS IF NOT ALL ROADS TYPICALLY LEAD TO AVANT HOMOLOGATION
Right now, there is no A5 allroad. Though the B10 has been out for about two years now, we’ve never seen even a hint of an A5 allroad (B10) test mule. By contrast, we’ve been seeing the A6 allroad (C9) mules for months (above), suggesting the A5 allroad wasn’t even in the cards for the B10… at least initially.
Without North America participating in the allroad, it appears that version may not have been produced for the European market either. More apparent to American performance fans, however, is that Döllner’s mention of allroad may be a clue to the second major question surrounding the RS 5 Avant.
I said it on the podcast with Nish and I’ll say it again here: bringing the RS 5 Avant to America without the allroad to help offset homologation costs for the Avant body style makes the proposition significantly more expensive for North America. That Döllner also appears to rule out a standard (non-allroad) A5 Avant in this segment — something North America hasn’t had since the early B8-generation cars — may also be relevant.
With no A5 allroad even testing publicly, at least based on the absence of test mules, it’s unlikely we’d see one reach the market before the mid-cycle refresh and we’re still a few years away from that. That leaves only two likely options: also bringing the standard A5 Avant that Döllner appears to have ruled out, or simply eating the cost in order to send a message to Audi aficionados that Audi hears them and gets it.
If it happens before the mid-lifecycle freshening, it’s likely the latter.
That would be a most excellent way for Vito Paladino to introduce himself to the U.S. market, its aficionados and dealers who have been clamoring for the car.
More evidence remains circumstantial, though still worth mentioning. This week I’m seeing A.J. Baime of Road & Trackhosting one of the magazine’s experiential events at the wheel of an RS 6 press car, while some Audi PR reps are liking and sharing on Instagram another local niche journalist’s video walkaround of his week-long RS 6 press loaner.
The RS 6 has been out of production for months, yet the press cars remain in circulation. One might conclude the reasoning points toward further RS Avant news potentially breaking at any moment.
So, I’m waiting for tomorrow’s embargo lift.
Could there be news that the Avant is officially confirmed for America? I’m hopeful.
When Nish and I recorded that podcast, I was probably 50:50 on whether it would happen. It would take commitment from the C-suite and all indicators suggest that commitment may now exist.
Time will tell.