Audi celebrates its 100th year in 2009 and started its anniversary year by making two debuts at the Detroit motor show. The first is perhaps the worst kept secret in motordom, the R8 finally getting the V10 power that it has been rumoured to receive since the car was introduced back in 2006. The mid-engined coupé is fitted with a 5.2-litre V10 with 518bhp, allowing the quattro four-wheel drive machine to sprint to 62mph in just 3.9 seconds.

Perhaps not the most relevant car for these more frugal times, but Audi is in celebratory mood in its 100th year. Revealing that 2008 was a bumper sales year - the 13th record year in succession - Audi remains upbeat. Like its BMW and Mercedes compatriots Audi is pushing its diesel technology hard in Detroit, the economic situation quite possibly the kick the American public needs to embrace the unloved but economical fuel. Joining the US TDI version of the Q7, Audi announced it will be offering its A3 in the America later this year with TDI power, promising the sort of 40+mpg consumption that America's home manufacturers cannot match.

While neither the R8 V10 nor TDI announcements were a surprise in Detroit, the revealing of the Sportback Concept is. Chairman of the Board Audi AG, Rupert Stadler, stated that the smart concept exhibited the new design language for the firm, adding that the A7 would debut later this year with design cues from the Sportback Concept. Edgier than Audi's current styling language, the Sportback Concept's rear has more than a hint of Lamborghini's four-door Estoque concept revealed at the Paris motor show. No bad thing. With a panoramic roof, lightweight design, a 225bhp TDI engine with stop-start technology and a seven-speed DSG transmission, Audi firmly underlined that diesel cars are not only an intelligent way to increase economy, but a stylish way too. Whether America will agree remains to be seen.

Kyle Fortune - 11 Jan 2009