The 2026 Audi A6: The 5 Series and E-Class Have a New Rival

• The new A6 is offered with a single powertrain: A 362-horsepower turbocharged V6 paired with standard all-wheel drive.
• Optional adaptive air suspension and rear-axle steering will be offered.
• Super-slick 0.23 drag coefficient makes this A6 the most aerodynamic gas-powered Audi in history.

The world hasn’t seen an all-new Audi A6 since 2019, but Audi has finally unveiled a fully redesigned model, which is due to go on sale in the second half of 2025. This new-for-2026 A6 promises big. But it does so by starting small — in the frontal area, that is. So slick is the styling of this A6 that its drag coefficient is a scant 0.23, considerably better than even the current Toyota Prius. This also makes it the slickest combustion-powered Audi ever built. But that’s just the beginning.

One engine, three suspensions

At launch Audi will offer the new A6 only with the 362-horsepower turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. It will be paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, though the engine lacks the mild hybrid assistance that is standard with this mill in other Europe. That also means no fuel economy estimates are available for U.S.-spec cars yet. Historically, a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder is offered in U.S.-market A6s as well, so we won’t be surprised to see one of those arrive as a base engine later.

Standard Quattro all-wheel drive will include the ability to decouple the prop shaft driving the rear axle in certain scenarios, improving fuel efficiency. An optional torque-vectoring rear differential paired with standard brake-induced torque vectoring should help improve handling — something we very much wanted from even this car's faster sibling, the S6.

Three suspensions will be offered: standard, sport and adaptive air springs. The sport suspension drops ride height by about 0.8 inch relative to the standard suspension. The optional air suspension can lower the A6 about 1.2 inches relative to cars on the standard springs and dampers, further improving aerodynamics. Rear-axle steering, which operates out of phase (in the opposite direction to the front wheels) at low speeds and in phase (the same direction as the fronts) at moderate and high speeds, will also be optionally available.

Standard wheels will be 19 inches fitted with all-season run-flat tires. A 20-inch option will be available, and 21-inch wheels fitted with summer tires will also be offered.

A tech-filled experience

The centerpiece of the A6’s redesigned cockpit is a 14.5-inch horizontally oriented touchscreen. It’s flanked by a new 11.9-inch OLED configurable instrument cluster and an optional 10.9-inch front passenger display, which can be used for web browsing or video streaming. Audi notes that video on the passenger display cannot be viewed from the driver’s seat while driving. There’s also an optional head-up display, which is more than 85% larger than it was in the last A6. It can show vehicle speed, assistance system status, navigation instructions and media information.

Audi went to great lengths to quiet the new A6, which it says has a 30% improvement in sound insulation relative to the previous sedan. Door seals are tighter, acoustic glass is used in the front and rear side windows, and all 19-inch and larger wheels include noise-absorbing foam — even the transmission gear teeth are optimized for silence.

As is seemingly always the case with new cars, the new A6 is bigger than the car it replaces — 2.4 inches longer overall, but riding on the same 115.1-inch wheelbase as the current model. So while you won't get any more legroom in the rear, cargo space in the trunk improves by more than 4 cubic feet and jumps from 13.7 to 17.8 cubes.

The A6 will offer multiple driver assist systems, including standard adaptive cruise control, traffic-sign recognition, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, and a feature called adaptive driving assistant. Adaptive driving assistant uses multiple vehicle sensors, map data and cloud-based data about other vehicles' locations to aid with accelerating, lane keeping and maintaining speed and distance.

The new A6 is a handsome thing. Low and long, it's as easy on the eyes as it is the wind tunnel. It's a shame we won't get its best piece of tech — a mild hybrid system capable of ell-electric driving at low speeds. But its promise of even quieter, tech-filled motoring is still alluring. Expect pricing and an on-sale date to be announced closer to the middle of this year.