These are the official shots from Audi of the new 2008 Audi A4. The new A4 has a very sporty design and looks set to give the 3 Series major competition in this class.

When released in the UK the A4 will come with a choice of three petrol and three diesel engines all of which are an average of 9% more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

The new A4 is longer and wider than the previous model, however it has actually lost weight thanks to its ingenious use of modern construction materials.

Also due to the use of these ultra-high strength steels the body is a lot more rigid making the car alot safer overall.

The styling has been taken right down to the finest detail with Audi describing the front headlights as 'technical works of art'. They feature LED daytime running lights similar to what is already on the R8, Audi refer to these as 'Wings'.

Improvements have also been made to the already good gearboxes seeing meaningful increases in efficiency and change speed.

When the new Audi A4 is released in the UK later this year we will perform a full review to see if the final version matches up to all these promises.