Audi is currently working on its next-generation A8 which has been caught by spy photographers once more. The vehicle will be officially revealed on July 11, and the sales will commence at the end of this year or the beginning of 2018. This will be the fourth generation of A8, and interestingly enough, it is the first model which will be styled by Marc Lichte who became the Designer Chief at Audi four years ago.
Lichte has already shown the new looks of the Audi A8 through the series of Prologue concepts on which the A8 will be based. The new model will be similar to the current one in terms of size, but the nose of the next-generation will be slightly longer.
The A8 is going to employ the company’s MLB platform which will underpin a lot of Audi vehicles and several Volkswagen models, and the example is the new Touareg. The first time we have had a chance to see the new platform was in the 2017 Audi Q7 and where it showed that new cars will be lighter and offered with more powertrain options.
The engines will remain mostly the same. In other words, V6 and V8 units will power the Audi A8, but a large W12 is expected to be offered one more time. Plug-in hybrid variant should also be available, while an all-electric model is possible after some time. There will be several diesel options which will sport an electric compressor, but, it remains unknown whether A8s with diesel engines under their hoods will be delivered to the States.
Inside, new technologies are expected, and the flagship model will be the first vehicle produced by the German carmaker capable of handling driving situations in full self-driving mode. Such circumstances include parking the car and driving in traffic at speeds of up to 37 mph, and this is all a courtesy of a new feature called Traffic Jam Pilot. New infotainment system with gesture control is expected to show up in the latest iteration of the A8 together with new lighting tech bringing organic LEDs in the taillights.
