If an eye-catching appearance and outstanding fuel economy were all it took to make a best selling car, the new A6 would be top of its class. There certainly is a lot to admire, starting with how it looks. However, aspects of the interior could be a disappointment for anyone who has admired previous generations of this big estate and saloon.
Four-cylinder TDI soon to be complemented by a V6
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Intriguingly, the Volkswagen Group not only continues to offer four- and six-cylinder diesel engines in many of its vehicles, but the A6 is the first for a new V6 TDI. And if the UK is unusual for how high the market share held by electric passenger vehicles now is, it’s also an outlier when it comes to diesel power. In January, only 5.5 per cent of all PVs sold here ran on diesel, down from an already low 6.2 per cent during the same month in 2025.
Taxation is higher, as is the price at the pump yet this is a bit of a shame considering how less dirty diesel now is. But the market wants electrified petrol engines, along with motors powered by energy stored in battery packs. That trend likely won’t change. Yet for those who are still keen on diesel, the new A6 holds a lot of appeal.
Audi revealed the new-shape model as an Avant first, knowing that this is the body which would be easily the biggest seller in the majority of European countries. There is again an extended wheelbase sedan for China, and, for the first time, electric drive.
Never meant to have A6 badges
The idea that the A6 can be either an EV or combustion-engined is somewhat misleading however. This is because the A6 Sportback e-tron, a hatchback, and the A6 Avant e-tron are different models entirely to the ICE-powered cars. The confusion is caused by a late change in naming: the petrol and diesel vehicles were set to become the A7 and A7 Avant before that idea was nixed.
One thing which does at least make consistent sense is the drive system convention: e-tron means electric, mHEV+ is 48V mild hybrid, TDI is also MHEV and e-Hybrid equals PHEV. The last of these offers a choice of 220 kW plus 450 Nm or 270 kW and 500 Nm combined. They have the same 185 kW (252 PS) 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, standard AWD and a 20.7/25.9 kWh (net/gross) battery. The maximum range in electric mode is a claimed 100 kilometres.
With the exception of the A6L, Audi builds every A6 for world markets in Germany, the first series production sedans and Avants having rolled off the line at the Neckarsulm factory last June. A new RS 6 is yet to be announced but coming later in 2026. Interestingly, the expected RS 6 e-tron is said to have been cancelled. Much of the reason is surely what has happened to demand for EVs in the USA, particularly stratospherically-priced ones.
From the 100’s 0.28-0.30 Cx aero drag in 1982 to 0.25 in 2026
You have to go back a long way for a better looking generation of Audi’s largest wagon than this new one. And was even the hugely admired 100 Avant streamliner from the early 1980s as beautiful and handsome as the new A6? For me, no. Just imagine how great the next RS 6 Avant could look.
Appearances can, alas, deceive. I love the lines of all Teslas but struggle to love pretty much everything else. The same applies to newer Volvos, and that too is mainly to do with the interiors. I fear Audi may have fallen into the same too-minimalist trap.
Do people really no longer want the lovely sounds and tactile feel of this company’s older cars? These were once the class standard, Audi chasing then surpassing BMW and Mercedes for beautiful dashboards, door panels, steering wheels and all other interior details.
Concept C heralds the next generation Audis
The Ingolstadt-based firm will soon be changing the front ends of its cars, as heralded by the Concept C, yet some of us wish it wouldn’t. Surely a new take on the first TT would revive the sports coupe segment in the same way that the original did. And one of the fascinating things about that convertible prototype from 2025 was its minimalist interior devoid of the screens which reach from door to door in some OEMs’ cars.
Perhaps it’s a little ironic that having told us ever larger displays are a great thing, Audi is now changing its mind. I for one hope this enlightenment, if you’ll pardon the pun, will bring the company bountiful sales. Most people long to have tranquility in their car, not a never ending sound and light show. And horrible dazzle from the too-bright and therefore dangerous headlights of so many new cars.
Yes there are several linked screens in the new A6 and yes I far prefer the dashboards and way more premium feel and look of older Audis. But we are where we are. At least in this latest model functionality is fairly logical once you become used to what’s what. Yet who wants haptic buttons for parking lights, headlights, front foglights and rear foglamps? And what possessed the supplier or Audi itself to think that the driver’s door is the place for these controls?
Where did all the tactility go?
The A6 Avant is an excellent car, possibly now the best in its class but what an opportunity awaits the first premium or luxury brand to bring us a truly beautiful and tactile interior? Compare what Mercedes has just done to the S-Class with big German luxury cars of even a few years back: tactility is far more appealing than dazzling displays and digital-as-default to a high percentage of target buyers.
Aside from shrinking the screens, Audi might do well to look at a few other things it no longer does as well as it once did. I get that some people like hard, grey plastic on the backs of their front seats (kids in car seats can have dirty shoes) but when the A6 has a surprisingly less than generous amount of space for adults’ knees, this is an issue. Soft, wipe-clean neoprene is the answer.
The door cards are also nasty-hard dark grey. Something nice though: there is luxuriant, dark houndstooth fabric for the seats. Which almost sums up my frustration with the A6: it’s a gorgeous, excellent car full of high-quality engineering yet let down in places by technology gimmicks and certain money-saving hacks.
Auf wiedersehen to ‘piano black’ plastic, bitte
Could we also please lose shiny black plastic trim? The moment you enter the car, dust and fingerprints are everywhere, including on those screens. Not very premium. Something else which needs to please go away and be replaced by what used to work oh-so-well is a trend towards reinventing the sunroof. In the A6 Avant it’s a giant, fixed glass panel. Incredibly, there is no retractable sun-blocking shade. Instead, a really fiddly-to-operate series of opaque sections activated by multiple presses on a haptic control.
One final observation in what I really want to be a balanced review of an almost-great car: the Volkswagen Group’s sadly, predictably, overly-intrusive ADAS software. Lane Departure Warning will drive an owner to distraction if they don’t take the time to deactivate it before setting off on any journey. At least this only takes two presses on the screen. Yet why not copy the beautiful-feeling steering wheel button from most HMG models?
More than 50 mpg easily attainable
You can in fact kill all the potential annoyances via the one menu. This includes Speed warning, Distraction warning and Fatigue warning. HVAC controls are all on the screen too. Other disappointments include steering wheel stalks which feel as cheap as the key fob. Of course this car would have been developed during the era when Volkswagen AG was hell-bent on saving money.
Something which needs to be celebrated is the continued availability of VAG’s state of the art diesels, the as-tested estate showing me an average of 49.3 mpg. The new 2.0 TDI also sounds really good, torque is abundant and on very wet roads, the quattro drive system was exemplary.
The 2.0-litre engine isn’t activated from start-up, instead energy stored in a 1.7 kWh battery being used to power a 18 kW and 230 Nm generator. And even when the TDI does fire up, it’s a very quiet diesel. I am yet to try the new V6 but suspect it will be even more refined.
Summary
The new A6 is an 8 out of 10 car and it could so easily be a 10. If Audi could just soften some of the interior plastics, being back the wonderfully tactile controls it once excelled at while retaining its fantastically frugal four-cylinder mild hybrid diesel, this would be a 5 Series and E-Class beater.
The new Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI produces 150 kW (204 PS) and 400 Nm, has a seven-speed S tronic DCT, all-wheel drive, a top speed of 147 mph, a 0-62 mph time of 7.0 seconds, Combined economy of 49.6-53.3 mpg and a CO2 average of 138-150 g/km.
