A November 2025 YouGov poll says 40% of Americans drive SUVs, making them the nation’s favorite vehicle, while sedans trail at 30%. Which raises a fair question: how did a machine designed for cattle, combat and the apocalypse become the go-to for grocery runs?

SUVs exist for one reason: People like sitting higher than other people. It’s the illusion of dominance at a traffic light and the fantasy that you’ll someday need to conquer a curb. In real driving, sedans do the job honestly, while SUVs play rugged dress-up. Cars belong on roads. SUVs look like mobile shipping containers with all of the appeal of — well — a shipping container.

None will ever look as lovely as the all-new 2026 Audi A6, a stoically beautiful sedan designed and built with the same unemotional efficiency you’d expect from a nation that alphabetizes its socks.

Underpinning the all-new 2026 Audi A6 sedan is something the automaker calls the Premium Platform Combustion architecture, a name that suggests engineering prowess and a marketing department paid by the syllable. Inside the new A6, screens dominate the A6’s instrument panel the way televisions once dominated American living rooms. You get an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14.5-inch infotainment touchscreen, and a 10.9-inch touchscreen for the front passenger, thoughtfully designed so the driver can’t see it while the car is moving to prevent ill-timed YouTube binges at 70 mph. There’s also a configurable head-up display, bringing fighter-pilot optics to your windshield.

Then there’s the optional Bang & Olufsen 3D Premium Sound System, which is worth every penny, mostly because once you hear it, you’ll stop worrying about the price and start wondering how a car has managed to improve music itself. The dashboard is trimmed in Alcantara and an ambitious amount of black plastic. It looks terrific for about five minutes. After that, it begins collecting fingerprints and dust, guaranteeing that you’ll keep a microfiber cloth on hand at all times, dutifully polishing the interior like a museum guard,

The A6 Premium comes standard with three-zone automatic climate control. Step up to the Premium Plus or Prestige trims and Audi ups the ante with four-zone automatic climate control, ensuring that every occupant can enjoy a personally curated microclimate, and proving that, as a nation, we can’t even agree on the correct temperature. There’s about as much room as you’d expect, although the cabin feels wider than its 74 inches suggests. The Sport Plus seats are on the firm side, but in a reassuring, orthopedic way and remain surprisingly comfortable even after long stints in the saddle. Best of all, the cabin stays impressively quiet, serenely insulated from road surfaces so bad they appear to have been paved by a committee that hates drivers. Still, the hard sides of the center console will definitely displease long-legged drivers, and it feels out of place in a luxury sedan.

Under the hood lives a 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6, which sends its power through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and to standard Quattro all-wheel drive. After all, grip is next to godliness. This year the driveline produces a robust 362 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque. The result is a 0—60 mph time of 4.5 seconds, which is quick enough to alarm your passengers while remaining socially acceptable. Top speed is electronically limited to 130 mph, a sensible precaution once the state trooper catches up.

The 2026 Audi 6 Sport model strikes that rare balance where the suspension is firm but not punishing, with just enough compliance and body lean to remind you that comfort still matters. The steering ratio feels spot-on, the brakes are perfectly weighted, and the engine keeps itself to a distant, well-bred growl, as if it’s clearing its throat rather than shouting. The overall demeanor is pure grand tourer, leaning slightly toward the athletic side, but always impeccably mannered. It does exactly what you ask, when you ask, without a committee of electronic safety nannies stepping in to question your judgment or call your parents.

Non-Sport models are far more middle of the road, in the literal and philosophical sense, though most of the A6’s athleticism remains intact. Big bumps are handled with greater tolerance and less complaint, but the price you pay is noticeably more body roll in corners, enough to remind you that this version prefers civilized progress to enthusiastic misbehavior. It’s less eager to play, more inclined to cruise, and perfectly happy letting you believe that was your plan all along.

Still, either version makes a fine choice in the luxury-sedan arena, a segment so crowded with worthy contenders it resembles a diplomatic reception for overachievers. The A6 squares off against the BMW 5-Series, Genesis G80, Lexus ES, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, all of them eager to dazzle you with some defining quirk or philosophical stance. The Audi’s defining trait, however, is that it largely refuses to audition. If it lacks the sharper personality of some rivals, that’s precisely the point. There’s nothing radical here, just a competent update of Audi’s popular sedan. The A6 doesn’t demand your attention or insist on being loved. It simply gets everything right, quietly and competently, which in a class full of extroverts may be the most confident move of all.

2026 Audi A6 Quattro sedan

Base price: $64,100

Engine: Turbocharged DOHC 3.0-liter V-6

Horsepower/Torque: 362/406 pound-feet

EPA rating (combined city/highway): 23 mpg

Fuel required: Premium

Length/Width/Height: 197/74/57 inches

Ground clearance: 5.5-7.3 inches

Payload: 1,102 pounds

Cargo capacity: 13.5 cubic feet

Towing capacity: Not available

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