Ruggedised Audi A4 Allroad axed

AUDI Australia’s cull of slow selling models continues with the axing of its small/medium (Avant) wagon on stilts, the A4 Allroad, as sales of the small segment ruggedised carryall had dwindled to a trickle in the total 2024 A4 Avant tally of 300 examples sold.

A decision to drop the model from local consumption was taken early by Audi Australia, before its international demise.

The handsome little wagon had been available since 2012 alongside the larger and more popular turbodiesel A6 Allroad built using the same formula with a raised ride height, chunkier tyres, underbody protection and exterior cladding.

All is not lost for A4 Allroad fanciers who may be steered towards the next generation larger A6 Allroad as a replacement A5 Allroad (A4 has been renamed A5) seems highly unlikely even with an A5 Avant in Audi’s new line-up.

Reported recently by Drive, Audi Australia head of product Matthew Dale said the company is committed to the wagon body style, but demand for the A4 Allroad had fallen away, at least in its final years on sale.

“(In) the Australian market, the percentage of that car in terms of buyers was quite low,” he said.

“We actually made a local decision to forgo that vehicle earlier than what was the natural end of production globally, and that was mainly just due to the customer feedback.

“If there’s no customer there... obviously we are always looking at products to suit the customer appetite within the local market.

“Part of our role is to make sure that we’ve got a product there for that appetite, and when there’s no appetite, there's obviously no product.”

As no successor to the A4 Allroad is on the horizon, the A6 Allroad is now Audi Australia’s only beefed up passenger style “wagon” as buyer preferences shift towards SUVs.

Should an A5 Allroad come become available however, Mr Dale said it would be considered for Australian showrooms.

“We would evaluate it. The big thing is what we found with Allroad customers, traditionally A4 and A6, they are traditional buyers of Allroads,” he said.

“They don’t want passenger vehicles, they are very loyal, (and) they don’t want an SUV, so they’ll continually buy an Allroad because that’s the car that suits them.

“It’s got some soft-road capabilities, but it’s also got the manoeuvrability of a passenger vehicle without having a large footprint like an SUV. So yeah, we would definitely consider it.”