If you’ve been following the ooooIYKYK Podcast about Audi, then you may have caught the recent episode catching up with Nish Pillai about the new RS 5. Nish is one of the 25 buyers who purchased the Nogaro Blue Audi RS 6 Avant “RS Tribute Edition” back in 2021, and today he finds himself desiring the RS 5 Avant (B10) that Audi just dropped.
In the podcast (linked above) we dig deeply into why the RS 5 Avant isn’t in the planning or what it would take (if anything) to convince Audi to bring it over. Nish is on a mission, and he’s created a Change.org petition in order to try to convince Audi of America that a pivot is in order and that the RS 5 Avant needs to come.
I promised him I’d share the petition. It’s one of several on Change.org, and at 2,483 digital signatures at the time of this writing, it’s the largest of them all.
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but it’s not looking good for the RS 5 Avant in America. Stories emanating from the European “long lead” launch covered here yesterday seem to confirm what I’ve heard – that the RS 5 Sedan only is currently the plan.
That an RS 5 Sedan exists at all is likely part of the scenario whereby the US commits to a certain about of volume. It’s believed the Avant will outsell the Sedan in Europe. Heck, if they were both sold here the Avant might actually outsell the sedan on this side of the Atlantic as well. Though Audi doesn’t post individual numbers, the RS 6 may very well have outsold the RS 7 in this current C8 generation where both were sold in this market.
That the A4 allroad hasn’t been seen in any B10 form yet also doesn’t bode well for an American RS 5 Avant. It’s the allroad that makes the body structure homologation costs pencil for the RS 6 in America where straight-up Avants tend to underperform in normal (read, “Not RS”) parts of the business.
RS 6 fans then will be happy to know that the A6 allroad has definitely been spied testing on numerous occasions.
So, will the petition help? I’d argue it can’t hurt. Likely the decision is already formed in concrete, but it’s not like concrete never crumbles. If Audi hears a loud enough voice, it could potentially pivot. Funds could be found. That would be unlikely, but it’s not impossible.
Glass half full, Audi of America refused to take a position on the subject officially. Before its reveal and with RS 5 embargo materials in hand, I put it to Audi of America’s PR team in a leading way, inquiring, “One last thing. It’ll be sedan only for the USA, right?”
They refused to take a position, promising to tell us more as we get closer to launch time. I get it. They’re pros and they’re not going to take a position on future product. However, the wishful thinker in me also notes that there’s no real reason to keep hope alive if there’s no reason to keep hope alive.
My hope is still alive. Sign the petition.