Audi is backtracking just two years after introducing a new naming strategy that saw even numbers applied to EVs and odd numbers to gas cars.

Exactly how Audi would apply the Sportback name varied, though: the A7 was similar in concept to the A5 Sportback, with its coupe-like roof over a four-door body, whereas the A3 Sportback is a vaguely wagon-esque hatch rather than a 'four-door coupe', and it retained the A3 name. It could hardly take the A4 name, after all.

The change comes just two years after Audi introduced distinct names for electric and internal combustion vehicles.

Numbers will once again refer only to a model's size and positioning in the lineup, Audi said in a press release. The letters A and Q will remain as differentiators between cars and SUVs, respectively, rather than powertrain type, meaning electric and combustion models can now share the same alphanumeric combination, Audi confirmed.

Having declared that all even-numbered Audi will be electric and odd-numbered ICE, Audi has changed its mind and reverted to the old nomenclature.

In a press release, Audi board member for sales and marketing Marco Schubert explained that the reason for this change was to "provide intuitive orientation for all customers worl

Switching all ICE cars to odd numbers and reserving evens for EVs was meant to help customers distinguish between powertrains

Audi is going back to its original naming strategy in which a number in a model's name refers only to the size or positioning in the lineup.