Following the leaked Audi roll out schedule until 2012 in Quattro Quarterly, the Audi Club of North America magazine, we now have the very first images of the Audi A5 Sportback, with almost no camouflage, shot in East Germany late last night after a dramatic ordeal between the test driver and our photographer!
In January, Audi had already unveiled the Sportback Concept at the Detroit Auto Show. Well, the A5 Sportback is its production version, a new competitor for the
Mercedes-Benz CLS and up-coming BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo. This new hatchback sedan will be positioned right below the future A7, a model labeled as a « four-door coupé ». The Sportback will proceed with Audi's aim to differentiate the A5 into a separate model family. Obviously, the A5 Sportback will not use the two-door configuration of the coupe. However, in order to be distinguished it from the
A4 Avant , the car might propose more sleek design turning it into a smaller sibling of the A7.The A5 Sportback will be equipped with bigger engines than the standard A5, such as the 4.2-litre V8, although, the most sporty version will be the RS 5, which is expected to debut 12 to 18 months after the initial launch.Audi's plan to catch sales and production up to BMW and Mercedes-Benz consists of enlarging the product range with 18 new models. That move will help the company reach one million vehicles sales in 2010 as those 18 new models will help push demand for the exotic niche models such as the Audi A5 Sportback. The A5 Sportback should be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
photo: Brenda Priddy & Co