The Audi R8 will be replaced but it could prove to be quite different than the outgoing model.
Audi has been building the R8 since 2006 and over the course of two generations, it has proven to be the perfect flagship performance car for the brand. However, the German automaker is all-in on electrification and during a recent interview with CNET, Audi Sport’s head of product marketing, Linda Kurz, revealed that the ‘R’ brand will transition to all-electric power.
Kurz said that the automaker’s “next challenge” will be to “transform the R segment, and the R segment is going to be fully electric. This is our job for the next decade.”
Importantly, Kurz did not state if the R8 will get a direct successor and simply suggested that future R-badged models will be electric. She also didn’t specify when an electric R car could launch, other than stating that the R segment will transition to all-electric within the next decade.
A report out of Germany in October claimed that the R8 would survive into a third-generation and that it would ditch the current model’s naturally-aspirated V10 in favor of a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 related to the mill of the Lamborghini Urus and other VW Group models. The report stated this model could also feature some form of hybridization and deliver around 700 hp. It was also suggested that an all-electric version of the R8 could be offered to customers.
During her interview with CNET, Kurz added that 80 per cent of the brand’s RS lineup will feature some form of electrification, including a number of all-electric RS models.
Opening photo shows Audi’s PB18 e-tron Concept from 2018.
The Audi PB18 e-tron concept had three electric motors with a combined output of 671hp and 612lb-ft of torque
