Audi is hoping its plush A7 Sportback will take sales from Mercedes’ CLS and BMW’s more practical 5 Series GT.
Fitting into a niche between the A6 and A8, the A7 provides seating and luxury for four in a ‘four-door coupe’ shape. At 4.97 metres long, it’s 17cm shorter than the A8, rides 4cm lower, and sits on an all-new chassis that will probably be the platform for the next-generation A6.
Unlike the A8, the A7 is not all-aluminium however, it does make fairly extensive use of the lightweight metal, and has a kerb weight of 1695kg 100kg less than the Mercedes CLS.
It’ll be offered with four V6 engines, all with stop-start and brake-energy recuperation.
The petrol units are a 2.8 litre V6 with 201bhp and a supercharged 3.0 litre with 295bhp. They come with seven-speed S-tronic transmission and Quattro four-wheel drive.
The diesels are both 3.0 litre units, with 201 or 242bhp, and offering economy of 53.3 and 47.1mpg respectively. The more powerful of the two is Quattro only, the lesser is front-wheel driven.
The fastest A7 (the supercharged one, obviously) does 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds and is limited to 155mph.
There’s no word yet on an RS7 but it seems likely more powerful engines will follow.
The A7 range will start at £42,925 (this will rise to £43,745 when VAT goes up to 20%). Order books open on August 16 and the first customers should receive their cars early next year.
Seat has announced prices for its new Ibiza ST estate.
The third silhouette in the Ibiza line-up (after the five-door hatch and sporty Ibiza SC), the ST range starts at £12,070.
That buys you the 1.4 litre, 84bhp petrol in basic trim. At the other end of the range is the £14,910 1.2 Ecomotive in SE trim, which may cost a little more but emits a road tax exempt 92g/km of CO2 and returns 80.7mpg.
With the rear seats in place there’s 430 litres of luggage space, 138 more than the five-door Ibiza. A Skoda Fabia estate has more space, but the ST is on a par with the Renault Clio and roomier than the Peugeot 207 SW.
All versions get air conditioning, CD player, steering wheel mounted audio controls, electric front windows, speed sensitive power steering and remote central locking.
Order books are open now and the ST arrives in showrooms later this month.