Production of the present Audi A8 is as a result of finish by the top of 2026, and it’s not clear what’s going to succeed it, if anything.
Under the unique plan the A8 was as a result of get replaced by a pair of vehicles in 2027: a SUV nicknamed Landjet and a sedan dubbed Landyacht. Each were to be based on the sports variant of the Volkswagen Group’s latest electric-only Scaleable Systems Platform (SSP).
Engineering work on SSP Sport was being led by Porsche, which was planning to make use of the platform as the idea of a brand new three-row electric SUV codenamed ‘K1’.
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With EV sales growth not meeting expectations, especially at the highest of the market, Porsche cancelled K1 in late September, and can as an alternative develop a special three-row SUV with petrol and plug-in hybrid drivetrains. Consequently, the SSP Sport architecture won’t be production ready until a while within the 2030s.
Without SSP Sport available, Audi has some tough decisions concerning the next A8. It could possibly be based on the Platform Premium Combustion (PPC), which underpins the newest petrol and plug-in hybrid A6, or it could use a lengthened version of Platform Premium Electric (PPE) that serves as the idea of the Audi A6 E-tron and Q6 E-tron, in addition to the Porsche Macan EV and the upcoming Cayenne EV.
Essentially the most obvious solution, facelifting and updating the present A8, has already been ruled out. An Audi spokesperson told Automotive News, a refreshed fourth-generation A8 is “not an option” as a result of the fee of meeting the newest regulations.
After pressure from worker representatives, Audi is predicted to make your mind up on a path for the brand new A8 by the top of the 12 months. Regardless of the Audi board decides, the automotive that replaces the fourth-generation A8 will take a time to develop, leaving a niche at the highest of the Audi’s sedan range for just a few years, a minimum of.
Local sales of the fourth-generation A8 ended earlier this 12 months when Audi Australia withdrew the S8 from our market.
Within the meantime, Audi’s large SUVs will tackle the role of being the brand’s flagship models, with a brand new generation of the Q7 as a result of be launched by the top of 2025.
The unique A8 was unveiled in 1994 featuring the bespoke weight-saving Aluminium Space Frame. The A8 hid its revolutionary engineering behind a handsome, if overly derivative body that looked too very similar to a stretched A6.
While the unique A8 and its successors never usurped the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series on the sales charts, it did blaze a path for the widespread use of aluminium and other lightweight materials to enhance fuel consumption.
It’s possible to argue, the Thirteenth-generation Ford F-150, launched in 2015, wouldn’t have made the switch to an all-aluminium body were it not for the A8 20 years earlier.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
