Yes, really. To find another rear-drive Audi sedan, you have to delve back before the War. 

A rear-wheel drive sedan might not be extraordinary in the grand automotive scheme, but slap Audi’s four rings on the front, and you’ve got something rather unusual. Believe it or not, the base Audi A6 E-Tron—the all-electric incarnation of Audi's mid-size stalwart—drives just its rear wheels.

Audi, a brand synonymous with its Quattro all-wheel-drive system, has predominantly built front-wheel drive cars throughout its history. To find an earlier rear-wheel drive Audi sedan than this new A6, you must journey back to the Audi 920 of the late 1930s. In Audi's modern era, only the rear-wheel drive versions of the R8 supercar and the base Q4 E-Tron crossover have deviated from the front or all-wheel drive norm.

Quick history lesson: Audi was founded at the turn of the 20th century and became part of the Auto Union in 1932, alongside Horch, Wanderer, and DKW—hence the four rings of the Audi logo. Post-war, the Audi name was shelved until the mid-1960s when Auto Union revived it, replacing DKW.

Most contemporary Audis trace their lineage to the DKW F9, designed during WWII as a successor to the Volkswagen Beetle. As a fascinating video from the B Sport YouTube channel explains, Auto Union adopted the F9's drivetrain layout of a longitudinal engine ahead of a transmission sending power to the front wheels. This layout persists in Audi’s gas-powered cars larger than the A3, often coupled with a driveshaft powering the rear in the classic Quattro all-wheel drive system, including the A6 and its predecessors.

All this to say, the A6 E-Tron breaks decades of tradition. While many single-motor EVs are rear-wheel drive for various reasons, making this move not entirely surprising, it’s still remarkable considering Audi’s history. The A6's competitors—the Tesla Model S, BMW i5, and Mercedes EQE—all start with rear-wheel drive too. Yet, it's astonishing that this is the first modern rear-wheel drive Audi sedan.

Going electric changes everything. This departure from tradition might seem minor in the grand scheme, but it's significant given Audi’s legacy. And let’s face it, a rear-wheel drive sedan is almost always a good thing, making the base A6 E-Tron potentially the sweet spot in Audi’s lineup.