Named after the famous Pikes Peak hill climb race held each year - an event won three times by Audi - it "could tackle this gruelling course and much more", claims the company. Not that it's Audi's latest motorsport contender; it's more of a tester of public and media opinion on the viability of an Audi 4x4, a top-end off-roader in the vein of the Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5 and so on.

This show car is fitted with a 500 bhp 4.2-litre twin-turbo V8, developed from that of the RS6 quattro and capable of 0-60 mph acceleration in 4.7 seconds. It sits on huge five-arm double-spoke alloys and run-flat tyres, and has a few neat design touches such as illuminated door handles which extend out when sensors detect that the owner (the key holder) wants to get in.

It can seat up to six people, with two foldaway seats in the rearmost row, and has variable-height adaptive air suspension which can be raised and lowered manually or automatically. Its roof is glass, creating an airy cabin, and it is kitted out with leather seats, laser-optic instrumentation, a DVD entertainment system and internet access.

Audi is seeing increased sales in the all-important US market - up 2.9 percent to 85,700 vehicles last year - but board chairman Martin Winterkorn said that there is still "enormous potential" for the brand to achieve more.

"We will be introducing a number of new models over the next five or six years", he said; "it has not escaped us that other German luxury car makers are still outselling us by two or three to one in some markets". Chances are that one of those five or six new models will look a lot like this.