The first detail you need to know that is that this car won’t be coming to Canada, according to today’s rumour at least. Sad

The other details? Not that they really matter, but this car will be a less expensive version of the A5 coupe. It will sport four doors and a sloping rear hatch, as you can see by the teaser shot above.

What the final product will look like doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes, or even Robert Downey Jr, to decipher. It will look like every other generic-ass Audi. Big grille, LED DRLs, LED taillights, and impeccable interior. But if it weren’t for sheer size, you’d never tell one Audi from another. I’m not saying that Chris Bangle was the best thing to happen to BMW, but at least he differentiated one model from another. Previously, BMW was in the same funk that Audi is today, with every model looking like an enlarged or shrunken version of another. It wasn’t until Bangle shook things up that BMW caught the buyer’s eye, for better or for worse. Audi seems to be enjoying a great deal of success with this formula, so perhaps I’m being unjustly critical.

Getting back, the A5 Sportback will most likely be based on the B8 A4 platform, leaving the larger A6-based A7 with room at the top-end of Audi’s 4-door coupe line-up. By 2011, when both the A5, A7, and new A8 come to market, there will be no less than 6 (yes, six) four-door cars from Audi. It’s a wonder BMW gets by with just half that number.

A video of Wolfgang Egger , Head of Audi group design, is after the jump. He goes over the A5 Sportback design with precision and elegance. Oh, and rolled up sleeves. How casual!

If you care about all the different diesel and petrol engines you won’t be getting in your A5 Sportback, head over to Motor Authority.

We’ll have more on the latest Audis, as the news becomes available.

[Audi]