First Drive: 2010 Audi A5 Sportback

There are only two reasons Audi's new A5 Sportback won't be seen in U.S. showrooms shortly after production begins in September. The first is the brand's apparently unshakeable belief that Americans don't like and won't buy premium hatchbacks, no matter how sleekly seductive. "This concept is designed for Europe," shrugged Audi executives at the A5 Sportback launch in Italy this week.
While the model will be sold in markets as distinctively un-European as China and Australia, the company has no plans to add it to the U.S. lineup. According to German officials, this is chiefly because Audi of America isn't asking for the Sportback to be put on any discussion agenda. Compared with the apparent lack of interest both sides of the Atlantic, the second obstacle is insignificant. It's the small issue of certifying the A5 Sportback to meet U.S.
Government crash-safety standards. Close relatives from the Audi family, including the A4, already satisfy the regulations, so this would appear to be a mere formality.