Major car brand admits 'mistake' with petrol and electric models amid huge U-turn

This included new internal rules, with Audi explaining that its vehicle model names would consist of one or more letters and a number.

The German manufacturer said this was done to represent the size and positioning of the vehicle in its ever-growing lineup.

With the new changes, Audi removed the previous distinction of numbers to differentiate between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine models.

The rules meant that the electric Audi models can share the same combination of numbers and letters as petrol and diesel models with the same design.

Original plans would have seen the Audi A6 ICE model called the A7 to provide a clear difference to the Audi A6 e-tron electric vehicle.

It retained the A and Q names to highlight the distinction between "low-floor" and "high-floor" vehicles.

However, the global boss of Audi has now admitted that it may have been a mistake to rename the vehicles, especially for customers who may now be confused.

Feedback from customers was not to the expectation of Audi, prompting the brand to axe plans to name the petrol Audi A6 as the A7.

Gernot Döllner, CEO of Audi, said: "Yes, as we said earlier this year, that was a mistake, and we corrected it.

"We will go back to our old nomenclature: A is for flat-floor cars, Q is for SUVs, and then the number describes the size of the car or the segment of the car, full stop," Drive reported.

Mr Döllner added that it was "thinkable" that the brand could revert to the A4 naming culture, after admitting that the A5 name was changed too close to production.

Audi has confirmed that it will invest around €28billion (£24.1billion) into electrification, with two-thirds going to development between 2023 and 2027.

It added that in the "medium term", it wanted to offer an all-electric vehicle in each of its core segments and phase out petrol and diesel vehicles.

Audi already has a number of electric vehicles on the market, with the automaker setting an EV sales record in the UK in 2025 with almost 31,000 sales.

Simple name designs can make or break a brand, as seen recently with major Chinese manufacturer BYD, which made a design change before launching in the UK.

BYD found that customers did not like the Build Your Dreams writing on the rear of the vehicles, so it decided to remove the lettering for its UK models.

Tim Bryant, then-European customer and experience manager at BYD, said in 2023: "European Seals will not feature 'Build Your Dreams' lettering at the rear.

"BYD has listened carefully to dealer, journalist and dealer partner feedback during this past year, some in favour of the lettering and others less so."