2023 marked the end of the line for Audi’s junior sports car, the TT, and the big-boy R8 was supposed to bow out shortly thereafter. However, that didn’t happen. Although the initial plan was to end production of the V10 supercar before the turning of the calendar, the naturally aspirated machine lives on.
Speaking with German business paper Automobilwoche, Audi confirmed the R8 is still in production at the Böllinger Höfe factory where it also assembles the RS E-Tron GT. That’s despite the fact the R8 V10 GT RWD serving as the model’s epilogue was introduced back in October 2022. Knowing that the end is nigh for the flagship Audi Sport model, it seems wealthy customers are rushing to buy a new one.
A direct replacement isn’t on the agenda since the Volkswagen Group is killing the venerable 5.2-liter V10. Yes, that also means the Lamborghini Huracan successor will lose the ten-cylinder engine. In its place, the Raging Bull intends to put a plug-in hybrid powertrain based around a downsized combustion engine.
Audi Sport isn’t abandoning the idea of having a dedicated range-topping model. Officials are already dropping hints an electric R8 could happen one day on the VW Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). The new hardware can be adapted for “iconic cars – sports cars and so on.” Perhaps this also means the TT will be back one day? We’ll see.
Let’s keep in mind Audi has already made an electric R8. However, it was a commercial flop as the R8 E-Tron was discontinued after fewer than 100 units were sold. It came out at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and was available for only about a year in Europe where it carried an eye-watering sticker price of €1 million. The rather obscure electric supercar wasn’t available at dealers since you had to drop by Audi’s headquarters to place an order.
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even included in the configurator, so without proper marketing, it was doomed to fail. Of course, the exorbitant price tag didn’t help its cause either. Ideally, Audi will have a better strategy in place for a new electric R8, one that we’re hoping won’t cost seven figures. The sleek PB18 E-Tron hinted at the prospects of an R8 without a combustion engine, although that concept is already nearly four years old.
