Audi A7 Sportback

KOMPAS.com - The latest in automotive fashion has been launched in Italy but it wears a Made-in-Germany label. Looking as sharp as a Hugo Boss suit against the backdrop of Sardinia's shimmering coastal waters, Audi's new A7 Sportback joins the current trend for luxury cars that aim to combine the swooping lines of a coupe with the practicality of four doors.

It follows in the dictionary-defying footsteps of Mercedes-Benz's CLS 'coupe' - and, as its name suggests, is to the A6 what the A5 Sportback is to the A4.

Sardonic grins are said to be plentiful on the Mediterranean's second largest island, where the adjective has its origins (because of the convulsive facial expressions the Greeks claimed were caused by eating an indigenous plant) and some may scoff at Audi's suggestion that the A7 is a genuine family car.

Open the standard electrically operated liftback hatch, however, and the A7 reveals a 535-litre boot capable of hording several large- and medium-sized suitcases. The rear seats also fold almost flat to increase cargo capacity to 1390 litres.

And despite that tapering rear roofline, taller passengers can sit in the back seat without feeling they've been packed in like a tin of the proverbial oily little fish that also take their name from Sardinia. Legroom is also decent.

The A7 won't accommodate 2.4 children, though, as there are only two rear seats - and two seatbelts. The middle seat is simply a leathered no man's land, until it becomes occupied by the centre armrest that is otherwise near-seamlessly integrated into the back seat.

Next year's all-new A6 will again offer a wagon (Avant) variant, which will invariably provide less style but greater flexibility for well-heeled families.

The A7's underpinnings are shared with the upcoming A6 - a new platform that is essentially an extended version of the A4's and one that brings new electro-mechanical steering.

Despite this, or perhaps because of this, the near-five-metre-long A7 drives very much like a bigger A4 or A5; which is both good and bad.

There's the familiar liberal helping of on-road refinement, and another selection of fine engines, including two V6s - of four initially offered in Europe - that are all but officially confirmed for Australia.