OFFICIAL PICS: AUDI A5 SPORTBACK REVEALED

These are the first official images revealing the third-string Audi A5 model - the Sportback - in all its glory for the first time.

Audi reckons the new five-door liftback A5 Sportback combines the sleek lines of a coupe with the comfort of a saloon and the practicality of an estate, thus combining the 'best of three worlds'.

In fact, Audi goes so far as to say that "with its short front overhang, long wheelbase, wide track and the four frameless doors with their slender window lines, it [the A5 Sportback] is the very picture of sporty elegance." That is perhaps pushing things a bit, especially for a car that has the whiff of Vauxhall Insignia about the rear three-quarter view, but we appreciate the sentiment.

Niche works if you can find it...

Engines are the usual A4/A5 range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder petrol and turbodiesel affairs, topped off (for now) by the 261bhp 3.2-litre V6 petrol and 237bhp 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel, both of which get quattro four-wheel drive.

A rather tastier S5 version featuring the 329bhp supercharged V6 already seen in the S4 should eventually be on the way, and we've got our fingers crossed for the even hotter V8 RS5 that's currently getting a workout on the rumour treadmill.

Audi is naturally also pushing the oh-so-fashionable green aspect for the new A5 Sportback - the base models benefit from a relatively svelte drag coefficient of 0.29, while four cylinder models get stop-start tech and all versions benefit from Audi's new recuperative braking system.

And now in grey

The first UK customers will get their cars in October, and prices top out at £34,020 for the top-spec diesel V6.

X-ray paint is optional...	Recognise this? A5 coupe drivers will...