First Look: Audi Sportback Concept

Audi is clearly proud of its Sportback philosophy, which it defines as "the sporting elegance of a coupe, the versatility of a five-door model, sophisticated technology and pronounced sportiness."
First applied to the Audi A3, and more recently on its A1 Sportback concept seen at the 2008 Paris show, the Four Ring brand's latest Sportback-inspired intrepretation -- the Audi Sportback Concept unveiled at the 2009 Detroit show -- is by far the most luxurious and daring of its five-door efforts to date and no doubt serves as a thinly-veiled concept version of the soon-to-arrive Audi A7.
While the Sportback Concept is at first glance yet another take on the now painfully cliche "four-door coupe," it's the addition of hatch that sets it apart from the CLS-Classes of the world. At 16.24 ft long, 6.33 ft wide and just 4.59 ft high, the Sportback certainly sports coupe-like dimensions. The Sportback's roofline and frameless doors make for a silhouette that appears to flow seemlessly from front to back, and the wheel wheels wash over the concept-size 21-inch rims. Audi says the design has a dramatically reduced number of lines, and we can't argue with that.