You Won’t Confuse GM’s New Baojun RS-5 With Audi’s Sports Coupe

Think of the nameplate RS5 and the images you’re bound to conjure up in your mind are of the most potent version of Audi’s A5. But General Motors has used the same designation (albeit with a hyphen) on a very different vehicle.

The Baojun RS-5 is the latest crossover that GM’s adding to its Chinese lineup, stemming from its joint venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). It’s the fourth such SUV to join the lineup, and though Audi may have some objections, it introduces a new nomenclature to the brand.

Though the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture issued these four initial images to preview the vehicle’s design, it hasn’t released much in the way of details. “More information on the RS-5,” it promises, “will be announced closer to the vehicle’s launch,” whenever that may be.

However those specs shape up, you can bet they’ll be very different from Ingolstadt’s. In its current iteration, the Audi RS5 packs a 2.9-liter twin-turb V6 producing 442 horsepower (330 kW) and 440 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque, channeled to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. It’s offered in both two-door coupe and five-door Sportback body-styles, with a convertible version likely to follow – but definitely not a crossover.

That place is occupied by the Q5, which can be had in SQ5 spec, and is expected to yield an RS Q5 model as well. Just don’t expect Baojun’s new RS-5 to challenge it for performance or prestige – or to be offered far outside the Chinese market, either.