The second-generation Audi A7 embodies the new, progressive design language of the full-size segment. Athletic proportions and dynamic body line define its emotive character. With the innovative lighting design and the futuristic interior, design and technology fuse in a unique way in the four-door Gran Turismo.
Full New Audi A7 Sportback Photo Gallery
The new Audi A7 Sportback impresses with its athletic aesthetics and dynamic body line. The sweeping, taut roof line combines the sporty dimensions of a coupé with the generous space and everyday usability of the tried-and-trusted Sportback concept. “The four-door Gran Turismo with its sculptural design embodies Audi’s progressiveness and dynamism,” says Marc Lichte, Head of Design at AUDI AG.
Full New Audi A7 Sporback Photo Gallery
The new design language uses large surfaces, sharp edges and minimal trim elements. As such, the Audi A7 uncompromisingly fulfills the design pledge of the prologue studies. Design and technology are fused much more in the automobile’s overall design thanks to the new design language. The Audi A7 Sportback is a prime example of how to fulfill the brand pledge “Vorsprung durch Technik” even more intensely as part of the design.
Even more so than on the outgoing model, the Singleframe grille dominates the front-end of the new Audi A7 Sportback. Positioned wider and lower, it expresses the sporty character of the four-door coupé at first glance. All the adjoining surfaces and lines radiate out from the grille, such as the contours on the engine hood and the flat headlights. The calm, horizontally aligned contour of the headlights provides space for a spectacular lighting design.
The outer edges of the vehicle front-end tilt forward, similar to the bow of a yacht. The three air inlets in the front apron – two large outside, one flat in the center – underscore the sporty character of the new Audi A7 Sportback. Strong contours, which are reminiscent of the front splitters on a racing touring car, form the bottom edge of the outside inlets. Two boomerang-shaped bars and a honeycomb grille structure their insides while also reinforcing the impression of three-dimensional depth. The outer edges of the air inlets are cut at an angle, creating presence and visually giving the Gran Turismo its firm stance on the road.
The side view is a dialog of taut lines and convex surfaces. The low-set shoulder line that runs around the entire car lowers the optical center of gravity of the A7 Sportback. Around a hand’s width above is the shoulder line, which is hidden above the doors. It extends from the headlight, runs to the corner of the rear light and forms powerful muscles above the wheel arches with a taut edge. They pick up on the classic “blisters” of the Audi Ur-quattro and translate them into the design language of progressive elegance.
The interior of the new Audi A7 Sportback fascinates with its futuristic lounge atmosphere and transfers the show-car design of the prologue studies to volume production. Four key values characterize the interior concept: progressiveness, sportiness, intuitiveness and sophistication. The defining design theme, which transfers the show car DNA into the interior of the A7, is reduction – reduction as a design tool.
Its reduced, clean design language combines muscular taut surfaces with clear, almost crystalline contours. The pronounced driver orientation underscores the Gran Turismo’s sporty character. All the design motifs are logically connected. Driver and front passenger experience a large space in which the architecture fuses seamlessly with the new operating concept. Two large touch displays replace the numerous buttons and controls. The result is a digital driving experiential space.
With its strictly horizontal orientation, the instrument panel appears light and sleek. Its strong three-dimensional structure reinforces this impression and is based on a logical structure of various elements; the low upright section houses the air vents, with extensive decorative surfaces constituting the flat surface underneath. The focus is on the “black-panel architecture” which faces the driver and into which the top MMI touch response display is integrated fully and almost seamlessly. A narrow decorative trim together with the quattro badge lends structure. This corporeal sculpture is surrounded by an aluminum-look frame. As a result, form and function fuse in the interior of the new Audi A7 in a unique way, the kind of marriage you would otherwise usually only find on show cars.
To the left of the steering wheel is a second, smaller operating panel which includes all the controls for the lighting functions. Optionally, Audi can supply an entirely black area; it provides the user with tactile and acoustic feedback, just like a conventional switch. The asymmetrically shaped console in the center tunnel also stands out with its black-panel look; this is home to a second MMI touch response display with 8.6-inch screen diagonal. The adjacent row of buttons can also be finished as an option with the same black look and sensory features.
On the center console, all the other buttons have been arranged with meticulous attention to detail into logical control units, such as the standard-fit shift-by-wire lever. This arrangement emphasizes the interior’s sportiness. The head-up display, which Audi supplies as an option, is fitted almost invisibly into the surface of the instrument panel.
The door trim surrounds the instrument panel with a large gesture and appears to literally support it. This progressive reinterpretation of the hallmark Audi wrap around visually creates a self-conscious connection to the hood’s swept lines. The doors also feature pronounced three-dimensional styling. The armrest and the pull handle flow into an elongated, three-dimensionally shaped aluminum panel, which gives the entire area the feel of a wing.