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Audi’s forthcoming A8 will herald a new design direction for the German car maker, Volkswagen Group chief Martin Winterkorn has told Autocar.

The new executive saloon is expected later this year and will be around 10cm longer than the current model.

In an exclusive interview with Autocar’s Steve Cropley, Winterkorn said the new car will answer criticism that Audi’s design direction is predictable.

“Wait until you see the new A8 late this year,” he said. “That’s a progressive...Read the full article

Does the A8 really need to be four inches longer than its predecessor?

It'll have to be to justify making an A7.

 Audi really are ridiculous.

Another incisive comment as usual from you TegTypeR! Forum is choked with people making one liners that contribute nothing.

 Maybe the customers want slightly more room, maybe there won't be a LWB version, maybe the platform's shared, etc, etc, etc.

Sorry but this really is the ultimate non-story! Autocar (and other mags) should stop colluding with manufacturers. Perhaps that would put a stop stop these 'teasing' glimpses and hints?? I reckon they've run their course already... And what - exactly - does "progessive" design mean in terms of a new A8? A more angular grille outline? A fastback roofline? A new tail-light shape?

(Rant over!) 

 

E60 7 Series anyone?

TegTypeR:

Does the A8 really need to be four inches longer than its predecessor?

Good question.

I would also question whether the current A4 needed to be so much bigger and longer than it's predecessor. It's nearly the size of the A6. Maybe it's a new trend for Audi.

No, the new A4 did not have to be an inch bigger than the old one, unless your rear passengers had chronic arthiritis.

Sorry TegTypeR, have to agree with others here, your question is rather superfluous.

manicm:

Sorry TegTypeR, have to agree with others here, your question is rather superfluous.

It is far from a superfluous question.

How many people have stood there and said, "My A8 isn't quite big enough"?  How long before the car out grows the average European parking space?  How long before we all run out of road space?  Where does it all stop, cars are growing at an alarming rate?  All relevant questions.

Yes, you may be right, they may be considering dropping the LWB version - some how though I doubt it.  I'm sure the argument will always be, BMW and Mercedes do a LWB version of their executive saloons, so we will too.

The current car stands at 5062mm long.  The proposals, according to the article, says the new vehicle will be 5162mm (approximately).  Let's get that in perspective.  A Hummer H2 comes in at 4826mm long.   Even the eight seat Hyundai i800 people carrier comes in at 5125mm, less than the proposal for the A8.

In reality the reason it will need to grow because vehicle packaging is becoming lazy.  An extra inch sound deadening here, or a couple of millimetres of foam there, it all starts to add up.  If that 100mm or 4 inches meant there was exactly the same amount of extra room for the occupants then fine.  But it won't happen like that.

I'm not proposing we should be dictated to by the car police - far from it.  What I want to see is companies such as Audi (and I'm not singling them out for one minute), thinking about what they are doing. 

Phew.... rant over.

 Audi already have a new look . Whatever I might think of them as an ownership proposition , all the A5 variants look extremely desirable.

 To me the size problem is about width. If the standard on-steet parking space is 1800mm wide , only the A3 will now fit , I reckon.