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It’s an occasion worthy of a future “Rare Rides” label when the North American market is graced with a new large wagon. Only a few of the breed are for sale presently, and that quantity has remained largely unchanged since the late 1990s.
Audi is selling two new ones this year, but they don’t seem to be on anyone’s mind. Not even the wagon-loving car journalists.
The reporting on the RS 6 Avant (announced first) and A6 allroad seemed to come and go quickly. American video reviews are few and far between; most you’ll find are from Europe. TTAC only reported on it once in 2019, and that was before the model was fully confirmed. But now it’s here, and it’s really something.
The substantially larger and more expensive sibling of the A4-sourced allroad, the A6 allroad debuted for 2020, and is also for sale as a 2021. Two trims are available, the “base” Premium Plus which starts at $65,900, and the Prestige which commands at least $71,400. A Bang & Olufsen 3D stereo is standard, as is the company’s 360-degree top-view camera system. Prestige is required for niceties like a head-up display, different HD LED headlamps, interior ambient lighting that is color selectable, and four zones of climate control.
Both trims have the same technical specs, headlined by a 3.0-liter TFSI engine that develops a nice 335 horsepower and 369 torques. No slouch, allroad reaches 60 in 5.1 seconds and will travel to an oddly limited 130 mph top speed. Acceleration is made possible via the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. An adaptive air suspension is standard, and includes a high-riding off-road mode. Like other allroad entries, it comes with crossover-y cladding around the bottom of the vehicle. But unlike previous allroads, for $1,000 Audi will color match all the cladding. But that option’s only available on select exterior hues. Blue, green, red, and brown are all accounted for, among other standard black and white tones. Tan or black interiors are available, but the US misses out on the browns and greens available in continental Europe.
Dimensionally it’s 74.9 inches wide, 194.9 inches long, and 58.9 inches high; almost identical to the Mercedes E-Class wagon. It weighs 4,486 pounds, so the fuel economy is expectedly middling: 20 city, 26 highway, and 22 combined on premium fuel.
Limited in its availability, there are 111 new A6 allroads for sale across the nation, and they range in price from $65,229 to $84,315. For comparison to another scant vehicle, there are 109 new Toyota Land Cruisers for sale right now. A more common vehicle, 143 Aston Martin DB11s are for sale.
We’re left with questions. Is Audi not marketing their new wagon or making it (or its hot sibling) available to news outlets in the US? Is its lack of publicity partially a result of the complete poop show that is the year 2020? Is there any point in advertising a large wagon to the American public? And with this low level of awareness, how long can such a wagon offering really last?
Perhaps only that last question will receive a definitive answer in time. I’ll tell you one thing though, the A6 allroad goes to the top of my used shopping list in roughly four years’ time.
[Images: Audi]
Good looking wagon
Seems odd they went through the trouble of bringing it here so they can basically ignore it. Car and Driver did a short article on it several weeks back, but that’s the closest thing to a review I’ve seen. I had hoped to be kicking the tires myself, but the touchpad controls are a deal-breaker for me. Too bad the A4 allroad with its old-school physical buttons is too small for my needs.
not that it changes the note of the story but there are 108 available on cars.com, 151 on carguru and 157 on autotrader.
Car and Driver did a writeup about it recently
If I had that kind of money, this would be high on my list. Size and profile look great, color selection isn’t bad. I would rather have a smaller wheel with a beefier tire on an “AllRoad” vehicle, the 20s seem overkill. Maybe in 4 or 5 years they won’t be worth as much as my house. Better get that CPO warranty…
De-content, de-power, de-price to $25.5K and I am interested
Get real. You didn’t buy an Alltrack when you had the chance (what you just asked for), so this utterly awful enthusiast meme you just trotted out falls flat.
And Audi doesn’t price cars at 25k, or de-content, because neither of those things are luxurious.
LOL. Last fall there were Alltrack S’s for $22K-$23K if you financed through VW Credit.
I should have bought one. That’s on me. However, it seems not enough people bought one either.
I paid under $22K for my Alltrack (manual, of course!) last fall, and I didn’t finance it.
Rolls Royce de-contents, just sayin’ ;-)
They probably make you pay more for it too.
Isn’t the A6 larger than the Golf-based Alltrack?
Seems like a hypothetical Passat Alltrack would be a better analog to this. However they would only sell like 20 of them and VW is definitely not putting a dime into the North American Passat.
That was part of my point. He’s asking for a larger *and* cheaper car with an Audi badge.
Even a junky Passat wagon is far more than $25k. It starts at $40k in the UK.
I don’t ask for Audi badge. I am asking for a wagon of this chassis configuration and size with decent power but not for $65K
I bought a new Highlander with AWD for $32K. Basically, it is bigger, less content, less power, etc. I am not saying de-power to 4cyl. I say, de-tune to 270HP, so it is still 6cyl. But make it more affordable.
Eh, everything in UK costs more. Civic costs $32K over there. The alltracks that were VWs for sale… those are cramped, Mexican made …
I like Volvo v90 Cross country, but I don’t want that 4cyl for $50K. Thanks a lot.
Looks pretty nice. Expensive to buy (and I am sure it’s expensive to keep up). But that’s the rules of the game with these German cars.
Another exceptionally complex slow-selling German car that will depreciate like crazy.
Buying one used only means you pay less for the headaches of owning it.
Honestly, I’d rather have a Kia Niro for half the price and twice the fuel economy and reliability. But that’s not why people buy the Allroad.
Audis are for the most part lovely vehicles when viewed from the back or sideways, but I just can’t warm up to those ugly front ends. Not that they’re alone in that respect…
The new chunky grille bars wrapped over the bumper are an improvement over the former dental floss look, but still not great.
There may be other reasons like the least expensive one within a 100 miles for me is $75,550 msrp on sale for $71,500.
……. I like it but I am not going to pay that for any car.
A rare ride would be the first generation Audi Allroad 4.2 V8 since most of the Allroads sold in the states had the 2.7 T V6.
Audi wagons, unless rare and stupid fast, are a bad idea. Those looking for a spacious Audi want a Q5 or Q7. If they want wagon practicality, Q3. If they want a car body, they have an A7, or if they like being a cheap b*st*rd like me, they like the VW Arteon.
A $65-$75k Audi wagon makes no sense in a world where you can get much more from the Nordic brand for less. Audi should have called Jag to see how sales of the XF wagon did.
Easy CP.
“The 2020 Audi A6 Allroad, Did You Realize it’s On Sale Now?”
Yes.