The A4 is now the A5, with optional 270kW hybrid power, a more organic new look and it’s incredibly cool – and not just because it’s not an SUV.

Audi promised to clean up its confusing specification-level naming scheme and then promptly called the A4 the A5, because that’s incredibly clear. While not renaming-Corolla-Auris levels of heritage-abandonment, it was puzzling to say the least.

Audi CEO Gernot Dollner has admitted he’s not on board and will likely return to the A5 name at the first available opportunity. Can’t call it the A45 either…

Anyway.

I’ve always really liked both the A4 and the A5. This new sedan is really the old A5 Sportback – as opposed to the three-door coupe – and I’ve always had a liking for them. They look great, had excellent engines (in Australia at least) and for an Audi, did something different, which the other Germans copied.

For the 2026 A5, Audi has added a plug-in hybrid version with a whopping 270kW power peak, heaps of gear and maintained the lovely sleekness of A5s past.

Dollner is right, it is all very confusing. But under all that, is it a good car?

How much is an Audi A5 Sedan hybrid and what do I get?

Audi A5 Sedan 150kW TFSI: $79,900 + ORC
Audi A5 Sedan 200kW TFSI: $89,900 +ORC
Audi A5 Sedan e-hybrid quattro: $89,900 + ORC
Audi A5 Avant TFSI 200kW S-Line: $92,900
Audi A5 Avant TFSI e-hybrid quattro: $92,900

The A5 range stands at three, with the TFSI sedan to open and the A5 Avant to close (I’ll be reviewing this for Drive very soon). In the middle is this plug-in hybrid A5 sedan e-hybrid quattro for $89,900.

Prices over the B9 A5/4 are – obviously – up but there’s a lot of gear to help soften the blow. You get 20-inch Audi sport alloys, black pack, auto Matrix LED headlights with auto high beam, keyless entry and start, powered tailgate, digital key, sport seats, mix of real and fake leather, powered and heated front seats, 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit dash screen, 14.5-inch MMI touchscreen, satellite navigation, Audi ConnectPlus, auto parking and front and rear parking sensors.

This car had $2100 Daytona Grey metallic paint which is a bit on the spicy side (but the lone colour priced that high) and the vaguely silly $1950 MMI passenger display, that weird extra screen in the passenger dashpad. The upside of having that screen is that your passenger won’t be staring at a blank expanse of piano black. I know we used to joke about the number of blanks in German cars but this is a whole new level.

Those two options bring the A5 to $93,950 before on-roads.

Audi has a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and you can extend it as part of the Audi Advantage program.

The initial five year service plan – should you prepay it at purchase time – costs $3360 or about $672 per year for the 12 month/15,000km service interval.

Audi Advantage extends the servicing and warranty for another two years for $3590, or $1795. Look, that’s a lot but you’re also paying for the warranty and extended roadside, but still. Peace of mind, yes, but hoo boy.

Look and Feel

The 2026 A5 is properly sleek-looking. While I mourned the evolutionarily slow softening of the original, I like the cohesiveness of this more organic shape. The A5’s design team led by Jakob Hirzel has produced something very stylish while typically understated in a very Audi way. Even the grille isn’t too big although the way the aero in the edges of the bumper looks in the black detailing is a bit Joker-ish.

The 20-inch wheels are spot on for size, too.

As ever, lighting plays a big part, with a configurable dancing light display when you lock and unlock the car. The doorhandles – while likely to be short-lived electrically operated – look terrific and when they are forced to go mechanical, will likely look the same. It’s aerodynamic but without sacrificing the style. So it turns out it can be done.

The new interiors for the A5/Q5 are quite lovely. While they could do with a lot less piano black, they look terrific otherwise. As you can see in the image looking forward, you’ve got two huge screens for the driver with the third in front of the passenger. So while twice the Björk is fine with me, not everyone will agree.

The third screen – and this isn’t specific to the A5 – is more of a novelty than anything else and would be vastly more useful if CarPlay extended to it. But as most of us have phones, there’s not really enough to amuse the passenger. Maybe a camera facing the rear seat would be better for parents to keep an eye on their darlings or vice versa as time marches on and we swap roles.

There aren’t enough physical buttons, however there is a physical volume control and the climate controls are pinned at the bottom of the screen. You can also choose to take up the whole screen with phone mirroring or keep the shortcut buttons along the edge. Again, give me real buttons but this is a reasonable compromise until the new EuroNCAP scores start reflecting a lack of physical controls for things like climate.

In the front you have two cupholders, wireless phone charging (unreliable for my iPhone 17 in a MagSafe cover), a decent glovebox, two USB-C ports and door pockets with bottle holders. Moving to the rear you get a third climate zone, two USB-C ports and small door pockets with bottle holders.

The rear seat is pretty shapely for two and dire for a third, but that’s hardly new. The big transmission tunnel means only a small child would have any fun at all in the central seating position.

The boot is predictably a long way down on the TFSI, with 331 litres against 476 when the rear seats are in place. Drop both sections of the rear seat and you’ll have 1306 litres, a long way down on the 1425 litres. The Avant has more, obviously and also looks great. Just saying (and I’ll link my Drive review of the 200kW Avant TFSI when it goes live).

Drivetrain

2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder plug-in hybrid
Power: 270kW at 5000-6500rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1600-4500rpm
0-100:

Rather cheeringly, this hybrid A5 has the same headline power figure as the turbo six in the S5, although a combination of 150kg extra weight and 50Nm fewer of torque conspires to keep the cheaper car at bay.

Its peak power figures of 270kW is obviously when the 2.0-litre turbo and the electric motor work together. Similarly the peak torque figure of 500Nm is the same.

When you separate them out, the petrol engine produces 185kW and the electric motor 105kW. Audi doesn’t offer a torque figure from the separate power supplies.

Audi’s very familiar seven-speed twin-clutch carries on with the transmission duties.

If you choose to drive in elect

Battery and Charging

The A5 has a 25.9kWh battery with 20.9kWh of usable capacity.

Charging is AC only at up to 11kW (wallbox, three-phase power etc.)

If you choose to drive in electric mode only, the A5 is rated to cover 80km from the available 21kW.

Driving

I’ve always been an A5 fan. The early first-generation wasn’t an incredible thing to drive, but it was nice. The second-gen, with its softer styling, was much nicer to drive. Its engine wasn’t slung ahead of the front axle and it looked great doing it.

This A5 is built around Audi’s PPC platform – premium platform combustion – as is the Q5/Q6 pairing. The interior tech is still cooking a little bit and I was a little disappointed with the new Tayron’s ride.

The A5, however, nails it down very nicely. It never feels like a 2200kg hybrid. It feels agile, lithe and always quick, no matter what combination of power you’re getting. It’s gorgeously smooth and my trip from Sydney to Canberra on a stinking hot day was entirely pleasant.

It fairly whistled along at 110km/h, cruise control on, no dodgy lane-centring telling me I’m doing it wrong, and it downed fuel at just 5.4L/100km. The air-con didn’t miss a beat and it was near silent. I always go on about the Q8 being the perfect long distance cruiser but I think the A5 turns out to be just as good.

It’s also quite a lot of fun in the corners. While it goes without adaptive damping, it corners flatly and competently, with heaps of torque to push you out of the corners. The quattro system acts in a fairly neutral way, but it will take a lot of effort to find understeer in the dry.

The steering is predictably light in comfort mode but as you amp it up to dynamic it actually weights up quite effectively. A chunky steering wheel helps, too. I really enjoyed stringing a few corners together in it.

It also shines around town. With a full battery you just waft about and when you need a kick, you can just floor it and you’ve got that big slab of instant torque to get you moving as the turbo engine spools up. It’s an incredibly user-friendly car, right down to the ride which is only mildly upset by sharp speed bumps.

Redline Recommendation

The A5 hybrid gets a big thumbs up from me, reinforced by a week with the TFSI Avant for Drive (review coming soon).

Smooth, sophisticated and very pretty, it’s the kind of car that will cover big miles with ease and short runs with electrons.

Audi clearly hasn’t given up on non-SUVs despite the ever-expanding range. I can’t think of a good reason to go with the identically priced TFSI. I can think of plenty of reasons to buy this over an SUV, though.

And given the recent tariff relief from the EU free trade deal, Audi might even knock a few bucks off…