Audi rewrites rulebook for radical next-gen A8

All-electric Audi will arrive next year as a sleek, long-range luxury flagship with a focus on performance and autonomy

- FELIX PAGE

The new, electric Audi A8 will go on sale next year as a highly luxurious, technologically advanced and extremely powerful rival to the Mercedes-Benz EQS and BMW i7.

Arriving at the crest of a wave of more than 20 new Audi cars due over the next three years, the Audi A8 EV will be crucial in providing the foundation for the brand to overhaul its positioning and differentiate itself more clearly from its Volkswagen Group siblings with a focus on high-margin premium cars in all core segments.

Due to be unwrapped exactly 30 years after the 1994 unveiling of the first A8-notable for pioneering an aluminium 'spaceframe' platform - the new flagship is set to once again spearhead a technological rebirth for Audi as it ramps up to go all-EV in just three years. It will use the largest version of the Porsche/Audi-developed PPE platform that will make its debut this year under the new Q6 E-tron, and is set to feature the most potent powertrains and radical technology available to the German brand.

As previewed in 2021 by the Grandsphere concept, the new A8 will shun the traditional three-box proportions of the four previous generations. Instead, it will adopt an ultraslick, wind-cheating silhouette aimed at boosting efficiency at speed to compete effectively with its BMW and Mercedes rivals - two of the longest-range EVs on sale.