Audi A7 2018 revealed

The second-generation of Audi's A7 four-door coupe has been unveiled atop Audi's brand new Design Centre in Ingolstadt.

This new version inherits much of the technology found in the recently launched A8. The A7 will come with a variety of standard and optional features, including laser lighting, remote parking for street and garage, a new two-screen control system that has cleared the console of buttons and the MMI wheel and eye-catching lighting design inside and out.

Audi says further engines will be along in 2018, so it shouldn't be a stretch to expect a 2.0 TFSI (with around 180kW) and 3.0 TDI.

Under the guiding hand of Marc Lichte, Audi's design chief, the new A7 has evolved in the accepted Audi way. The new car is an impressive, more aggressive looking thing. Opt for Matrix LED headlights and you'll get a binary-inspired daytime running light arrangement that looks more like a set of teeth in the headlights. At the rear the lights are full width (again, like an A8) and when you unlock the doors, an animation plays, like the parting of curtains.

The new Audi face makes the car look wider while the chopped rear has given way to a more shapely look. The profile is virtually identical, but there is a lot more shape to the flanks and the 55 rolls on 21-inch alloys.

Inside there is - again - a lot of A8, but a more driver-focussed dash layout. The A8's twin-screen system takes car of media, car settings and climate control, with a new version of the MMI system that does away with the rotary dial and replaces it with haptic-feedback screens.

Options include four-wheel steer, laser light, Matrix LED, dyanmic dampers, air suspension and safety packages along with the usual endless combinations of wheel and interior trims.

The A8's active suspension won't be available. Audi says the A7 doesn't need it but it's probably too bulky to fit.

Australian pricing and launch date are yet to be finalised, but for comparison the 235kW 3.0 TDI twin-turbo of the current model is close to $150,000 while the 2.0 TFSI is under $120,000. We should see the new A7 on our roads sometime in 2018, but don't bet on it being this side of winter.

The first-generation sold more than 200,000 units over its five year lifespan, with Australian buyers snapping up 684 of them (not including S7 or the fire-breathing RS7).

The new A7 is packed full of new tech, but does it look different enough? Or are you a Mercedes CLS or BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe person? Tell us what you think in the comments below.