An Audi R8 successor is being readied for a mid-decade launch, which will reinvent the marque’s famous halo model while also helping to reposition the brand as an electric forerunner.
According to Audi insiders, the supercar has not yet been officially signed off but is very much underway. It won’t be called the R8 and will take an entirely new design direction so it won’t resemble the long-standing model.
However, it will stay true to a pure sports car concept, with two doors and more power than anything else in the Audi range, albeit coming from an electric set-up.
The current R8 remains in production and a run-out model, expected to be a RWD GT, will be revealed later this year before all variants of the car stop being made at the end of 2023.
Talking about that specific model, Audi Sport boss Sebastian Grams said: “What we are trying to do is get as close as we can to that ultimate feeling of racing.” He added that 60% of its parts are similar to GT3-spec cars.
The R8 is made alongside the Audi E-tron GT and RS E-tron GT at the Audi Sport factory in Böllinger Höfe, Germany – considered at the forefront of Audi’s innovative production techniques so the facility is already geared up to produce high-end electric models.
While Audi Sport expedites development of the R8 successor, the team responsible for primarily hand-building the R8 will stay on at the factory after R8 production ends, allowing Audi to ramp up E-tron GT production.
However, it also means they will be trained and ready to start building the R8 successor within a couple of years, because Audi is keen for hand-built elements to remain a feature of a new flagship sports car to reflect its position in the line-up and justify its expense.
Grams said: “Absolutely we will keep craftsmanship as it’s what makes the car unique from the rest of the portfolio. If we bring an R8 successor, we will try to continue to do that. It is important for the customer. There’s love inside an R8.”
Audi has a plethora of platform options for an R8 successor, although it’s most likely to use one developed with Porsche, given the firm’s sports car expertise.
The SSP Sport platform, recently confirmed by Porsche, will be used on SUVs and saloons and replace the J1 platform currently used for the Porsche Taycan and Audi E-tron GT sibling cars. It’s one option for an R8 successor, depending on its ability to scale down.