Audi Prologue Avant Concept

In an interview with Automotive News, CEO Rupert Stadler says Audi will focus on core, hot-selling segments like SUVs to boost its sales to become the global luxury brand leader by 2020. And that means niches like big, luxury wagons and minivans will be passed over.

Despite the strong praise for the Audi Prologue Avant Concept shown at March's Geneva Motor Show, Stadler says "dream on" to enthusiasts.

According to Autoexpress, Audi will look to take on the likes of Mercedes-Benz and their CLS Shooting Brake model, by showcasing this gorgeous Prologue Avant concept at next month's Geneva Motor Show.

Of course, this type of concept could mean more to the car industry than just a CLS Shooting Brake rival - which we'd assume it would be considering how dynamic it looks thanks to its low, sloping roof line.

The profile pics do indeed point to a very bright future for the entire Audi Avant line-up, which means the A4 Avant and the A6 Avant could easily end up being the best looking estate cars in the world as soon as their next generation rolls around.

These sketches don't give much away in terms of interior design, but it's clear that we'll be dealing with a very clean and futuristic cabin.

At a first glance, it gets a different, dark grey paint job and new set of alloy wheels on the outside, together with a black leather treatment for the upper section of the dashboard and the steering wheel on the inside, compared to the original Prologue Concept shown in LA last November.

A quick look at Audi's release, reveals that the 597hp (605PS) and 750Nm (553.2 lb‑ft) 4.0-liter bi-turbocharged V8 is now aided by an electric motor that helps lift output to 668hp (677PS) and 950Nm (700.7 lb‑ft) of peak torque improving the large coupe's 0-100km/h (62mph) time by 0.2 seconds to 3.5 sec, while also helping drop CO2 emissions from 199g/km to 185g/km.

As the name suggests, the Prologue Piloted Driving Concept also gets the latest version of Audi's autonomous driving tech that relies on a series of systems, including the central driver assistance controller (zFAS) "that processes information gathered by the sensors to create a detailed impression of the car’s surroundings".