2019 Audi A7 Sportback makes its US debut at the Detroit Auto Show
Audi's beloved sedan-coupe-wagon-thing gets its first total do-over since 2010, and they're bringing it to Detroit.
The original Audi A7 was an odd duck when it hit our shores in 2010. It wasn't a sedan; it wasn't a wagon, it was a little of both. Buyers embraced it, though, and it now, 8 years later, we're getting our first in-the-metal look at the all-new 4G9 series A7 Sportback as it makes its North American debut at the Detroit Auto Show .
The first all-new A7 in eight years isn't wildly different from the old one, aesthetically speaking. It's still a mishmash of sedan and coupe design language that somehow, against all the odds, ends up being pretty handsome. The 2019 A7 is the second vehicle to make use of Audi's new design language after the 2018 A8, and while it's pleasing to the eye, it isn't going to win anyone over who didn't already like the way Audis looked. Think evolution more than revolution.
Audi lighting has always been impressive, and the 4G9-chassis A7 gives us more of the same. The headlights and taillights dance around when the vehicle is locked or unlocked so prepare to feel like you're at a Daft Punk concert every time you head out to your garage. Audi, in its press release, talks about the headlights looking like ones and zeros to represent the A7's "digital light signature" but we still don't know what that means. Maybe someone told them to stop using the term "dynamic" to describe every feature of a car?
The interior of the 2019 A7 is as gorgeous as one would expect from Audi. The materials look lovely; everything is well put together and laid out intelligently. I mean, what did you expect? Audi does a few things exceptionally well, and interior design is at the top of that list. The big update here comes in the form of an overhaul of Audi's MMI which ditches its weird backward-scrolling dial and replaces it with touch control with haptic feedback. It also features configurable and movable Favorites buttons, a feature which we love.
The 4G9 A7 is already on sale in Europe as a 2018 model, and we would expect it to arrive stateside sometime in Q2 of this year. Watch this space for more Roadshow coverage of the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.