Audi will renew its entire executive and luxury car range over the next two years, with the addition of a range-topping Q8 luxury SUV plus new versions of the A6 executive saloon, the A7 4-door coupe and the A8 luxury saloon.
As well as providing hi-tech options never before seen on a passenger car, the new range will also answer criticisms of all Audi models looking too similar. Design boss Marc Lichte has styled a range of cars that are still clearly Audis, yet have greater differences in style, unlike existing models.
“We want to get RS emotion into our standard cars,” Lichte told us, and he hinted that RS models are likely to be even more extreme.
A slim, low hexagonal grille is bookended by narrow headlights with a new twist on Audi’s daytime running light theme.
Every new Audi will have subtle differences to these lights, the A7 getting the latest LED matrix technology and individual, three-dimensional strakes as DRLs that will also be animated to welcome drivers.
As well as the exaggerated wheel arches – to highlight the car’s quattro four-wheel drive ability – Lichte has split the traditional shoulder line with one running from front to the middle of the back door and a higher line starting at that point running to the rear – he calls them ‘equator lines’. Above that second line is another beautifully crafted line, while a gentle curved imprint sits across both side doors.
The long roof of the current A7 continues, with its aerodynamics making a rear wiper superfluous, while along the back what appears to be a single rear light with a narrow illuminated bar that runs the full width of the car.
Although based on the same MLB platform as the A7, the A6 features different angles for its hexagonal grille and a slightly less detailed DRL treatment, although once again it’ll be animated at arrival and departure.
The equator line along the side is also split, but at different points to the A7, while a fast C-pillar gives the car an almost coupe-like look at the back. Along the boot, a full-width chrome strip joins the rear lights rather than the light bar seen on the A7.
The wheel arches are similarly blown to exaggerate the car’s wide, sporty proportions and once again there’s the promise of a more extreme design in S and RS versions.
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