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After being previewed by a Detroit show concept car you may remember, the Audi A7 Sportback has debuted looking quite close to that original prototype, which is to say it looks quite lovely. While there are a few odd proportions and angles that might take a bit of getting used to, the production A7 looks quite nice overall. That's especially good news for those of us who feel that the new 2011 A8 looks just a bit too vanilla. While Audi has positioned that car well to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-class and the BMW 7-series, the A7 should be just what Audi needs to also be in the arena occupied by the Jaguar XJ, the Porsche Panamera, and other sleeker large cars.

All the regular Audi goodies are here. Styling is what one would expect, and LEDs are scattered all about the corners of the car both front and rear. Inside, the design is a bit too reminiscent of a Mercedes-Benz CLS, but it does look good. We're sad to see the A8's yacht-inspired shifter didn't make it, but at least the Bang & Olufsen stereo with those fancy tweeters on the dash made it. In this application, the top-level system features 15 speakers and an output of 1300 watts.

Engine choices so far only relate to the European market. They're all V6s, two gas and two diesel, and they range from 200-300 hp. We'll probably see a 3.0-liter supercharged car here in the States, and we'd be surprised if a V8 didn't make it into the mix as well. The latest quattro system includes torque-vectoring technology and Audi Drive Select is standard.

We expect more information regarding US availability soon, but the car goes on sale in Europe this fall with pricing starting at 51,000 pounds in England.

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