Audi’s four-door flagship has been running since 2017, which means that the competitor of cars like the BMW 7-series, Lexus LS and Mercedes-Benz is about to undergo a facelift. Today, that renewed top limo gives a first sign of life.
Audi presented the current fourth generation of the A8 in the second half of 2017 and that means that the top sedan is about half of its intended career. Although the sedan still matches the more recent models of the brand in terms of design, Audi has a facelifted A8 in the development rooms to keep the model up to date. The renewed A8 can be seen for the first time on this set of spy plates. The car is still hanging in the camouflage stickers.
Audo applies the camouflage stickers not only to the clearly redesigned bumpers, but also to the underside of the headlights. The psychedelic print should prevent us from discerning the viewers’ new form, but it does not succeed. The light units appear to have a spur at the bottom, completely in line with the headlights of cars such as the A3 and Q8. The rear lights seem to keep their shape, although Audi does adjust the light signature. The LED strip running over the entire width of the bottom is now broken at a number of points. The actual rear light units themselves will also be divided with more segmented LED parts.
There have been rumors for some time that Audi is bringing back the ‘Horch’ designation and the renewed A8 could be the first Audi of the brand to have that label available. The Horch variant should become a direct opponent of the Mercedes-Maybach S-class. Horch was founded in 1904 and the Audi brand name more or less stemmed from that in the 1920s. Horch ancestor August Horch lost the rights to his own name and then translated it into Latin into ‘Audi’. In 1928 Audi and Horch were merged with DKW and Wanderer under the name Auto Union. After Auto Union came into the possession of Volkswagen, Daimler-Benz of all people took the name off. Since the 1980s, the name ‘Horch’ has been back in the hands of Audi.