Posted on Wednesday 26 March 2008
The next couple of years will see the release of three crucial models in the premium segment with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all expected to release new versions of their volume mid-level sedans. Audi will be the last to launch its revitalized model, with its next-gen Audi A6 set to arrive a year after the new BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-Class.
The A6 will once again be released in both sedan and Avant wagon body styles and as these latest renderings show the new model will feature the same fluid lines as the new A5 and A4 models and will sport intricate LED headlights like those on the A3 Cabrio. At the rear will be angular shaped lights previewed by the 2007 Cross Cabriolet quattro concept.
Under the new sheet metal will be an extended version of the modular platform used in the A4 but expect to see more exotic materials such as aluminum and magnesium employed to help save weight and improve dynamics. The engine lineup will likely mirror the A4 range but expect to see some new additions including a 300hp twin-turbo diesel V6 as well as a new TFSI V8 with around 430hp. The base model will remain FWD but AWD variants will feature the latest quattro torque vectoring systems, which distribute drive individually between each axle and between the rear wheels for improved traction and stability.
A concept version of the car is tipped to be unveiled next year before the production version debuts in late 2010.
2011 Audi A6 sedan
Audi really has an excellent design team.
Humm I have my doubts, seems too radical, too futuristic… but ..I guess the future is now…
I’m sure it’ll grow on me…. I wonder what the RS6 treatment will give it once it comes out.. but thats far from now.
At least it’s not a droopy bangle-butt copy.
That is a handsome car. Audi is, without a doubt, the best designed marquee of the Big German 3.
And I think I see sanity returning to Ingolstadt with the separation of the brake lights from the turn signals. Hallelujah!
it looks old- looks little different from the current model. Audi can surely design but too tight and contracted- too germanic for some. Anyways build quality is supurb and wish other manufactures would learn a little from them.
The rear of the car looks a little “odd”
theres hector again about his combo turn signals. hector i’ve asked a couple times, but please explain what you have against combo units…. and what you consider to be a combo unit, cause all i see is one continuous lens.
anyways, yeah audi, like mazda, is the deviant of the 3 brands. its funny. they both do the same; build products that are just as good and some times better than their two more famous siblings, but in the end, have much better looking designs.
realize this is a preview but i definitely like the back. audi is one of those brands that needs to keep their designs fresh but still maintain an “audi” look.
Anybody who can tell me why all AUDI cars have the same look? A4 A5 A6 A8? Just bigger one after another… and some guys call it excellent design?
Its a 4 door A5. Very beautiful though.
Underachievement is a horrible thing Chris, specially when achievement is so easily within your reach. A brake ligjt is a brake light and shouldn’t double as a turn signal. And if you think it does then a headlight should also double as a turn signal thus obviating the need for an independent turn signal anywhere in the car.
There’s one way things ought to be and that’s the end of it. Turn signals and brake lights should be independent of one another. And if you put them together it’s because you’re an underachiever and then I won’t buy your car because if you cut a corner on something so incredibly simple and obvious then I wonder what other corners you’ve cut. To see integrated lights in a Crown Vic is a sign that the car manufacturer just doesn’t care. When I saw it on the Audi A8 I almost had a stroke.
PS - Red turn signals are also a stupid, irritating thing. Brake lights are red. Couldn’t you choose any other color of the rainbow for your turn signal? Why the same color?
hector; this is what i dont get. its a more luxurious look. do you want 2 lenses for ur high beams, 2 for ur lows, 4 for turn signals, 2 for fog lamps, 2 for reverse lights, 2 for brake lights? you put them all under the same lens and its clean.
you make it sound like theres a car out there that the turn signal is a flashing brake light or head light. theres NO CAR that does that. there are separate bulbs all within the same lens. yes, new chryslers turn off the one head lamp so that the turn light flashing away is more noticeable, but again, i dont get what your deal is with the whole thing. I cant even think of a car that doesnt have integrated lamps.
you HAVE to admit that the rear lamps on the current Golf are sick. the top half of a semi circle is the brake light,.. the bottom half is the turn signal, the inner circle is the running lamp,… its cool.
You’re not getting it Chris. I’m not talking about the same lens. I’m talking about the same LIGHT. I don’t know where you live but here in America we have a whole lot of cars using the same LIGHT (or lightbulb if you want) as a brake light and as a turn signal. You’ve never seen this? Really?
In Europe this would not be allowed. There the A8 and the A6 have distinct and separate turn & brake lights. Here they put them both together so that sometimes you don’t know if the car is braking or simply signaling a turn or both or what.
If GM wants to take a Corvette to Europe it needs to install yellow turn signals in it. Here we get the underachievement of an integrated brake / turn signal ligjt. The European Focus gets both. The American one gets the integrated one. The European Audi TT gets yellow turn signals. The American one red. WTF?!?!
I’m sorry to say that as automotive consumers us Yankees aren’t as sophisticcated as Europeans or automakers wouldn’t be doing this.
wow this car is absolutely beautifull…..it looks bold..masculine…feminine….elagant and sporty at the same time…just like all audis do…Nigel all audis dont look the same…but yes they are quite similar because it is tradition the big single frame grille is a singnature…german cars have a certain traditon in design well most of them…bmw have there air intakes and angel eyes…mercedese benz have their angulat front grill.. this is the reason why its called good design
i actually completely agree with nigel on this one - the front of this car looks exactly like the front of the new A5 to me. when i clicked on this article i actually thought that it was going to be about the A5 and was dumbfounded when i found out that it was a new concept altogether. this is not to say that audi has a poor core body plan for its designs; i’m only saying that i wish they’d switch it up a bit, make each model a bit more distinguishable from its counterparts
i would take the Avant over the sedan on any day !