After the production of the last TT in November 2023, an even bigger icon with the Four Rings flies off into the proverbial sunset. The final R8 rolled off the assembly line at the Audi Böllinger Höfe facility in Heilbronn, Germany. The epilogue of the supercar is a Vegas Yellow coupe in the Performance Quattro edition with a carbon fiber exterior package and 20-inch wheels.
Audi had to expand production of the R8 to cope with an influx of customer orders following the company’s announcement that it was axing the flagship sports car. Originally, the last car was supposed to be built in late 2023, but that only happened this month. Last year, sales increased 49 percent, to 1,591 units. However, the R8 remained by far the slowest selling global product.
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Looking at sales results, demand for the R8 has always been low, which is understandable given the car’s exorbitant price tag. Demand peaked in 2008, when Audi delivered 5,016 cars to its customers. These sales figures take into account both the Coupe and Spyder flavors.
| Year | Sales |
| 2023 | 1,591 |
| 2022 | 1,068 |
| 2021 | 1,887 |
| 2020 | 1,651 |
| 2019 | 1,944 |
| 2018 | 2,760 |
| 2017 | 3,068 |
| 2016 | 2,878 |
| 2015 | 2,191 |
| 2014 | 2,222 |
| 2013 | 2,595 |
| 2012 | 2,536 |
| 2011 | 3,349 |
| 2010 | 3,166 |
| 2009 | 3,074 |
| 2008 | 5,016 |
| 2007 | 2,952 |
The demise of the Audi R8 means that the Volkswagen Group’s venerable V10 engine has one foot in the grave. Lamborghini will phase out the R8’s sister car, the Huracan, later this year. The rest of the production has been accounted for. This effectively means that you can no longer order a supercar with the 5.2-liter naturally aspirated engine. The Huracan has always been the more popular of the two mid-engined supercars, which is probably why only Lamborghini will introduce a successor this year.
In June 2023, Lamborghini said it was making so much money that it had the funds to develop the new model without sharing costs with Audi. The sequel to the Huracan is expected to be a Lambo through and through, but with a plug-in hybrid setup featuring a downsized gasoline engine. The ICE would be a twin-turbo V8 expected to perform like an NA engine up to 7,000 rpm, which is when forced induction would come into play.
While Lamborghini is preparing to launch a new model in the name of a bull, Audi has no plans to launch a direct successor. From time to time, company officials hint at an all-electric replacement, but that probably won’t happen anytime soon. We know the high-revving V10 is dead for good. Blame it on the R8’s high asking price and increasingly strict emissions regulations.
