The move comes at a time when BMW is struggling in the 5 and 7 series markets as consumers desert the brand for a new generation of European luxury vehicles.

Audi has issued official photographs of its new second-generation RS6 one week before the rapid new four-door is due to make its public debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany. The Audi beast is set to go up against the BMW M5 in a battle of the power machines.

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Based on Audi's current S6, it is planned to go on sale next year in Australia in both sedan and wagon body styles. It will be priced at over $200,000. Audi officials in Germany say North American sales are planned, although they don't give a time frame.

The new RS6 is powered by a new version of the S6's engine, a twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V10, rather than by the 435-horsepower twin-turbo 4.2-liter V8 engine of its predecessor. The new RS6 engine develops a heady 580 hp, which places it ahead of its key four-door rivals, the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, by 73 hp and 66 hp respectively. Torque tops out at a prodigious 479 pound-feet at just 1,500 rpm. With drive being apportioned to all four wheels via a six-speed gearbox and Audi's Quattro four-wheel-drive system, the RS6 has a 4.6-second 0-62-mph time and an electronically governed 155 mph top speed.

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