KEY POINTS:
The A5/S5 was pitched as the "Italian Audi" when it was launched in Europe last year. The swish new coupe was designed by Walter de'Silva, an Italian who previously penned cars for Alfa Romeo, and it does look the part.
It might be Germanically efficient under the bonnet, but on top it's an undeniably pretty car. We saw the S5, with its thumping V8 engine and manual transmission, earlier this year. But Kiwi customers can also now put the regular A5 on their shopping lists.
Why the wait? While the S5 and A5 have been available in Europe from the outset, the local Audi people have been waiting for automatic transmissions to be available in the lower-level models.
At $109,900, the 3.2 V6 is the least-expensive model in the A5 line-up (although our dressed-up S-Line version pushes the total up to $117,900).
It lives up to Audi's claim that it's a "touring coupe", being big, refined and relatively quick.
The 195kW/330Nm direct-injection petrol engine revs in an astonishingly fluid manner and quattro four-wheel-drive removes any doubt about the car's ability to cope on wet roads.
The A5 is not a sports coupe. It has Audi's Drive Select system, which allows you to configure the engine, steering assistance, gearbox and adaptive suspension in any one of three modes. And the A5 is based on a new Audi platform that pushes the engine further back within the wheelbase for better handling balance.
But it's still not a car to drive hard, at least not in the way you would with a BMW 3-series coupe.
If drop-dead gorgeous looks and ease of use count for anything (they should in a coupe), then the A5 could be the car for you. But the V6 petrol isn't the one to have - not when the 3.0-litre TDI turbo diesel version is just $1000 more, quicker to 100km/h and boasts 500Nm of torque. It's the perfect engine for a car of the A5's character.
Our A5 test car also sported something not usually experienced in an Audi - a slight rattle in the driver's side door. Let's hope they're not taking this Italian thing too seriously.
