The smaller of Audi's two high-riding wagons has made an early exit from Australia before its global demise, and there may not be a new model.
The high-riding version of the Audi A4 wagon met an early demise in Australia – its run in local showrooms ended before the rest of the world – amid low demand.
And it may never return, as Audi is yet to be caught testing a new mid-size Allroad based on the A4's renamed successor, the A5, which has just arrived in Australia.
In recent years, about 20 per cent of Audi A4 sales have been wagons – and a small percentage of those being Allroads, offering raised suspension and extra body cladding to set them apart from regular Avant wagons.
The A4 is the smaller of the two Allroads, offered alongside an A6-based version which is sold exclusively with turbo-diesel power.
Audi Australia head of product Matthew Dale told Drive the company is committed to the wagon body style, but demand for the A4 Allroad has fallen away, at least in its final years on sale.
"A4 Allroad, speaking to 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."
It appears increasingly unlikely there will be a replacement for the A4 Allroad, given Audi is yet to be photographed testing such a vehicle in Europe, based on the latest A5 Avant wagon.
It comes amid declining sales of wagons globally, possibly to the extent that Audi feels a new A6 Allroad – which has been seen testing overseas – is sufficient to cover remaining demand.
Should an A5 Allroad come to fruition, however, 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.
"They don't want passenger vehicles, they're 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."
The Audi A4 line-up, including the S4 and RS4, was the fifth-most popular wagon in Australia last year, on 299 deliveries – accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the 511 A4s, S4s and RS4s sold in 2024.
It placed ahead of the A6 line-up – on 184 wagon sales – but behind cheaper models such as the Skoda Octavia, the number-one seller on 662 deliveries in 2024.
Audi A4/S4/RS4 wagon sales reached a 21st-century peak of 602 vehicles in 2016, shortly after the arrival of the just-superseded model.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
