Audi kills off the R8 in Australia, Lamborghini Huracan safe

Audi Australia is bidding farewell to its R8 V10 supercar, confirming the flagship mid-engined machine will no longer be produced for the local market.

The decision to stop importing the Coupe and Spyder to Australia comes off the back of Audi's engine plant in Hungary no longer producing the Australian-spec V10 engine, instead focusing on those tuned for the European market.

While local cars were available with a 5.2-litre engine developing 397kW/540Nm in rear-wheel drive trim or 449kW/560Nm when mated to Audi's quattro system – these figures were lower than European tune cars, which are fitted with petrol particulate filters, reducing emissions and noise.

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The de-tuned engines drop 22kW/10Nm and 7kW/20Nm respectively on their European counterparts, but gain the V10's iconic howl – something the PPF neuters.

A spokesperson for Audi Australia confirmed the R8's local demise to MOTOR, citing the engine's production coming to an end.

"The current generation of the Audi R8 Coupe and Spyder are no longer offered in Australia, for local homologation reasons," said the Audi spokesperson.

"The R8 will continue to be produced for other markets. Audi AG is currently discussing various concepts for a possible R8 successor, but no decision has been made so far."

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First launched globally with a 4.2-litre V8 in 2006, the R8 gained its V10 powerplant in 2009 before becoming the sole remaining engine when the second-generation car was released in 2016.

Year to date Audi has sold just 29 R8s in Australia, equal to the whole of 2020 (17 units) and 2019 (12 units) combined, although not enough to ensure the future of the supercar for local buyers.

While the long-serving R8 is forced into retirement, its Lamborghini Huracan sibling remains safe with deliveries of an even more track-oriented STO variant soon to commence.

A Lamborghini spokesperson has confirmed to MOTOR: "At Lamborghini we always follow the new regulation in terms of emission and homologation in every market and our V10 Huracan EVO product range will be homologated as well in Australia.

We will soon introduce into the market the first units of Huracan STO that will thrill our customers with the most track oriented Lamborghini."