On the inside

Anyone familiar with the recently launched Audi A7 Sportback will instantly recognise the interior of the A6 to all intents and purposes they are the same.

That means a curved dashboard that wraps round into the front doors, high-quality materials in the areas you most often touch and near millimeter-perfect craftsmanship.

Overall, the cabin is an enticing place to be; an appealing mix of curves and lines, and the sort of detailing Audi customers have come to expect, such as aluminium-look control knobs that are textured, so as to be more tactile to use.

Badstbner says the design team wanted to make the cabin as light and practical as possible, pointing to the narrow A-pillars and decent over-the-shoulder visibility as examples of this.

'The part-aluminium construction of the car means it is particularly lightweight, and we wanted to emphasise that through design,' he says. 'A light, airy cabin is one way of getting that message across.'

MMI
The latest edition of Audi's MMI function operating system is standard, as is two-zone climate control, while there's a huge extras list to enhance and customise the cabin.

Options range from a wood veneer finish to a variety of leather upholstery options, electric seats, a touchpad system to control MMI, Google Earth compatibility on the sat-nav and a state-of-the-art (and expensive) Bang & Olufsen sound system.

Interior photos of the Audi A6
> Audi A6 1: click to enlarge
> Audi A6 2: click to enlarge
> Audi A6 3: click to enlarge
> Audi A6 4: click to enlarge
> Audi A6 5: click to enlarge
> Audi A6 6: click to enlarge
>'Technology has dripped down to the A7 from the A8, and now the A6,' says Badstbner. 'A6 customers will be getting the interior from the classes above.'

The boot is 530 litres, 10 litres up on the BMW 5 Series and 10 down on the Jaguar XF and Mercedes E-Class. However, the A6 comes as standard with split-folding rear seats a key differentiator from the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class.