Audi is trying to sell some utility and some styling sizzle in an odd configuration at a premium price.

Audi has pulled the wraps off its latest full-size model – the A7 Sportback. The sleek five-door is an attempt to see if there is a growing market for a large, luxurious hatchback design.

Typically hatchbacks are associated with inexpensive compact cars, particularly in the United States.

However, Honda and Acura are working the same area of a thus far unknown market segment with the Crosstour and ZDX models that are currently on sale and very close in dimensions to the A7. BMW is also very much a factor here with its X6, err, SUV. (See First Drive: 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour and BMW X6 M Debuts in New York )

Audi claims the A7 has “the sporty elegance of a coupe, the comfort of a sedan and the practicality of a station wagon.” The German company will find out if potential buyers agree when the quasi-sporty, quasi-luxury car appears this fall in dealers with a € 51,600 ($67,255) starting price.

Open wide for 49 cubic feet of cargo capacity when both rear seat backs are folded forward.

How this segment is classified – crossovers, SUVs, fastback wagons, 4-door hatchbacks, 5-door hatches – will no doubt be the subject of an interminable industry debate, as marketers look for the magic words that will motivate people to spend premium dollars for utility that is less expensively and more efficiently obtained in mainstream offerings.

While the A7 has the signature Audi grille and option LED headlights that are becoming a distinctive design cue, focus will be on the large rear hatch that provides access to a 535-liter (18.89 cu ft) capacity, which increases to a volume of 1,390 liters (49.09 cu ft) with the rear seatbacks folded forward. The styling works against optimizing room here.

A luxury interior is standard except of the usual navigation and premium sound system options.

On paper the A7 five-door coupe is 4.97 meters (16.31 ft) long and 1.91 meters (6.27 ft) wide, but only 1.42 meters (4.66 ft) high, which of course removes some of the utility for a sleeker stance. Its long hood, the short front overhang, the long wheelbase, the raked C-pillars and the sharply dropping rear create a slick impression at first glance.

Inside is the by now usual “wrap-around” interior with a horizontal instrument panel line that encircles the driver and front-seat passenger. Optional climate-control and massage functions are available for the front leather seats. And there is also optional ambient lighting.

Audi will initially offer the A7 Sportback in Europe with a choice of four V6 engines: two gasoline and two TDI units. Their power output ranges from 150 kW (204 horsepower) to 220 kW (300 horsepower). Their claimed efficiency is such that Audi thinks they will set new standards in the vehicle class. We will wait and see what the real certification numbers show since A7 is a large, very heavy vehicle.

The new 3.0 TDI with 150 kW (204 horsepower) and multitronic consumes on average 5.3 liters of fuel per 100 km (44.38 US mpg), with CO2 emissions of 139 g per km

(223.70 g/mile). All engines use Audi’s “thermal management” system, brake regeneration and an engine start-stop mode.

Audi offers two different transmissions depending on the engines: The continuous multitronic sends the power to the front wheels, while the sporty seven-speed S-tronic works together with Quattro permanent all-wheel drive. The latest evolutionary stage of Quattro features a crown-gear center differential and torque vectoring. An optional sport differential actively distributes the power between the rear wheels.