The Audi A7L can stay in China because it looks super odd
Audi revealed the exclusive-to-China long-wheelbase A7L at the Shanghai Auto Show, and we'll keep our A7 Sportback, thanks.
Yeah, it's a no from me.
This week, there've been a few new cars that have made us go, "man, we wish that car was coming to the US." For me, it was the new Ford Evos and Lincoln Zephyr Reflection concept. But some new concepts are only for China, and I'm A-OK with that. The Audi A7L is firmly in that category. Revealed on Monday at the Shanghai Auto Show, the long-wheelbase version of the A7 is supposed to satisfy the Chinese need for an even bigger version of the car.
See, the problem comes in with the rear end. The A7 we know is called the A7 Sportback, and it looks delightful. The A7L is just a long and stretched-out sedan. It adds a whole lot of dead space on the rear end to make room greater rear-seat passenger room. It just... doesn't work. In fact, I get big-time Volkswagen Passat vibes from the side profile.
The paint color's cool, though.
Standard features for the A7L include air suspension, rear-wheel steering and Quattro all-wheel drive. Unfortunately, Audi didn't care to show off the revised rear-seat passenger area in photos, where there's surely an emphasis on comfort. A7L buyers likely aren't driving them -- they're riding in the back.
Production will kick off locally in China this year before the car goes on sale, so there's no need to lose sleep over some Chinese forbidden fruit, folks.
