PETROL powertrains are on course to take up to a 50% share of sales of the shapely new Audi A7 Sportback.

The rise in petrol engine mix will be driven by three factors according to product manager Matt Rance:

• reduced demand for diesels,
• better fuel economy from 48V mild hybrid petrol engines and
• new four-cylinder petrol powertrains.

“We have genuine petrol alternatives to diesel and we are quietly confident of the whole life costs of petrol versus diesel,” said Rance.

The second-gen A7 will be able to accommodate a four-cylinder engine because the latest version of Audi’s longitudinal-engine MQB platform is engineered to accept the tall four-cylinder engine.

The previous generation A7 had such a low bonnet line that only V6 engines could fit in the engine bay.

Petrol powertrains contributed 15 % of sales of the first-gen A7 over its lifetime, but concerns over the health effects of diesel will lift the launch mix of petrol engines on the second-generation to closer to 30%.

That’s also because the 286ps V6 turbo petrol is much closer to the V6 diesel on whole life costs.

The RVs, from CAP, for example predict nearly three per cent more retained value for the 55 TFSI petrol than the 50 TDI diesel over three years/60k miles.

CAP’s running costs are even closer with the 55 TFSI coming out at 72.36 pence per mile and the 50 TDI only a fraction ahead at 72.16 pence per mile, says Audi.

Four-cylinder engines to increase petrol mix

Until the four-cylinder engines are launched later in the year, the RVs and running cost figures remain unknown, but nonetheless Audi is predicting a significant uptake in four-cylinder petrol models.

In 2019, the first full year of Audi A7 sales, four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines could push the mix to 50% petrol.

“It will certainly be 40% in 2019 and, who knows, It maybe could be an even split 50% petrol and 50% diesel,” added Rance.

The power output of the four-cylinder petrol has also to be revealed, but new versions of the 2.0-litre four are tipped to develop more than the 235bhp of Audi’s current most powerful four-cylinder petrol.

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