Audi A6 scoop

Audi A6 scoop
By Tim Pollard and Georg Kacher (artist's impression by Larson)

Audi will unveil the new A6 exec in 2010 – a year after its key rivals the BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-class. Our artist’s impression, compiled with the help of sources in Ingolstadt, reveals a slick-looking evolution of today’s four-door, but we’re left wondering if Audi needs to evolve its styling more dramatically. Isn’t the new A6 at risk of becoming just another Russian doll Audi design?
The now firmly established ‘goatee beard’ grille dominates the A6’s nose, and will be flanked by beautifully detailed headlamps incorporating Audi’s daytime running light eyebrows. The rest of the look is stock Audi: sober, classy but hardly exciting.
The new Audi A6: high tech
If we worry – prematurely – that the looks could end up being an enlarged photocopy of the Audi A4, there are no such concerns under the bonnet. This new A6 will be a significant new model: it’s the first mainstream Audi saloon to usher in a new construction method.
So far Audi has offered aluminium construction on its lower volume cars, such as the R8, TT and A8, but the A6 will also get a multi-material spaceframe to snip away excess flab – and improve handling, economy and emissions in the process.