Audi reveals A5 Sportback

Audi's new A5 Sportback will be released in New Zealand early next year.

Audi has expanded the A5 range - which already includes coupe and convertible models - with this sleek new five-door hatchback-equipped Sportback version.

The company says the new car provides almost as much interior space as the more staid A4 saloon, but it's not entirely clear where the buyers of this new addition to Audi's increasingly crowded range will come from.

While the Sportback's five-door hatchback body shell is slightly novel - the last largish Audi have such a layout was the Avant version of the second generation Audi 100 which bowed out in 1982 - its bland good looks don't really stand out that much from those of the rest of the German manufacturer's range.

Owners of silver Audis are going to have an even harder job picking out their cars in airport car parks in the future.

The A5 Sportback will initially be offered with 2.0 litre and 3.2 litre petrol engines, and 2.0 litre and 3.0 litre diesels.

It goes on sale in Europe in September and will hit dealers in New Zealand in the first quarter of 2010. Pricing details are not yet available.

- THE INDEPENDENT