The new Audi A6, going on sale in Germany in early 2011, has no need to adopt the fashionable coupe-like look, because that job is done by the A7. Instead it emphasizes its role as a traditional executive sedan, and its silhouette is little changed from the outgoing car -- or indeed, the one before that. But the detailing is far richer.

The A6's beautiful -- and beautifully made -- interior shares much with the A7. The dashboard uses wood reminiscent of a 1960s luxury speedboat, with a wrapping element around the driver and passenger, running away from the dash and into the doors. The MMI unit has an optional handwriting-recognition pad, like the A8 and A7. A head-up display also appears on the A6 options list for the first time. The center dash screen, 6.5 or 8 inches depending on the level of MMI, deploys electrically from a recess in the dash.
Although a high proportion of the understructure is shared with the A7, none of the major external panels are the same. The A6 has deeper feature lines and fuller surfacing. At 194 inches long, it is slightly shorter than the A7, but both have the same 115-inch wheelbase. The A6 actually is a fraction shorter than the outgoing car, but lower and longer in the wheelbase.

Some 20 percent of the bodywork is aluminum, including the strut towers in the engine bay, the crossmember behind the front and rear bumpers, and the engine bulkhead and rear crossmember. Aluminum also is used for the front fenders, engine hood, trunklid, and all the doors. Audi says this cuts 15 percent from the body mass, compared with conventional steel.

The new car shares its drivetrains with the A7 above it and the A4/A5/Q5 below it. At launch the base version will be a naturally aspirated 2.8 V-6, with Multitronic CVT, delivering 204 horsepower and a claimed 0-62-mph time of 7.7 seconds. Above it is the 3.0 TFSI V-6 with supercharger, which develops 300 horsepower and comes with quattro drive and seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch transmission. It does the 0-62 sprint in 5.5 seconds