Audi unveils stylish A7 Sportback

This is the sporty new A7 Sportback, the car with which Audi hopes to take the fight to rival German, the Mercedes CLS. The A7 was designed with one thing in mind and that is the firm’s ‘big car’ design. The A7 fills a gap between the A6 and A8, which are more mainstream sedans. The A7 will appeal to its niche customers looking for a stylish four seater coupe. The A7 joins the ever expanding list of four door coupes from the Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes CLS, Porsche Panamera, Aston martin Rapide to the upcoming Bugatti Galibier and BMW 6-series Grancoupe.

Hit the jump for more details and high resolution images.

The A7 is huge at 4.7m in length and 1.91m in width which is a mere 17mm shorter and 4mm narrower than the massive A8. The concept A7 was shown at Detroit last year and at the Auto Expo in 2010 and we are glad to say that Audi have retained most of the styling cues of the show car. The long nose, roofline, narrow lights, large grille and short rear end are what stay in your mind. There is an integrated rear spoiler that raises at highway speeds, like in the TT and Panamera. The best part about the A7 is that the next-gen A6 will borrow lots of details from it. The A7 sports a steel chassis but has aluminium doors, hood, hatch and other bits. It tips the scales at 1695kg, almost 100 less than a similar diesel CLS.

The new A7 will initially get four V6 engines featuring direct injection, Audi’s thermal management system, stop-start and brake energy regeneration. Two petrol engines available are a 2.8L V6 with 201bhp and a 3.0L V6 with 295bhp. The A7 is available with 7-speed S-tronic transmission and Quattro permanent four wheel drive. The more powerful of the who diesel engines comes with 242bhp.

The cabin is one of the best from Audi yet. The A7 features several interesting design touches that surpass rivals BMW and Mercedes. The concept car’s wraparound dashboard has been retained and the TFT screen folds neatly in the middle of the dashboard. The A7 also comes with an optional heads up display which is a cool way to impress your mates.

The A7 seems to be a very well rounded package and offers everything a person looking at this kind of car needs. We did expect more powerful engines and we know that they will be launched later on. The A7 was displayed in India meaning it will come in as a CBU. What we are not sure of is the launch date and price. So stay tuned to Wheelosphere for more details on the A7’s Indian launch. Enjoy the pictures.