Is all-new 5-Series and E-Class rival the fairest executive saloon of them all?
With the arrival of the C9-generation Audi A6, the world’s pre-eminent trio of premium executive saloons is again complete, living on for at least a while longer.The new A6 joins the recently launched ‘G60’ BMW 5 Series and the ‘W214’ Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and it isn’t here simply to make up the numbers. Last year’s outgoing version outsold its illustrious rivals in Europe, despite those rivals being shiny next-generation models.The replacement for that car reprises the basic A6 recipe: a body nearly fives metres in length, a selection of diesel and petrol engines, saloon and estate versions, and plenty of the latest technology.However, there have been some notable developments. One is that six-cylinder engines are out, unless you happen to live in Germany or another of the selected countries lucky enough to be offered Audi’s V6 mild-hybrid petrol unit. Another is that exterior design moves away from the increasingly angular look of previous A6s, with the reintroduction of curves apparently inspired by the C5-gen car of the early 2000s. The interior has also been overhauled, with more digital elements than ever – not least a dedicated display for the passenger, which is included as standard.All this is aimed at keeping Audi’s second-best-selling model globally, behind only the Q5 SUV, on the boil. Here we’ll discover how successful those efforts have been, by way of the e-Hybrid PHEV saloon variant, with its near-300bhp output and claimed electric range of 60 miles.
