Rendered Confirmation: Audi releases sketches of A5 Cabrio, Sportback, A7 and next A8
Click above for gallery of official Audi renderings
According to Motor Authority, Audi has released official sketches of some upcoming vehicles that are currently gestating in the German brand's product pipeline. The first is the A5 Cabrio, though we don't need a sketch to know that it will look exactly like the A5 Coupe but with a folding soft top. Next up is the A5 Sportback, a four-door coupish type thing that we expect will get in the way of A4 sales just like the CC does for the Passat over at Volkswagen. Then we have the A7, which is a four-door coupe like the A5 Sportback, just larger and with a normal trunk instead of a rear hatch. And finally we have the car you see above, the next-gen A8, which looks much more aggressive than the current model with "angry eye" headlights, a large singular grille and sharp creases all around. Still up for Audi after these models come to market are more versions of the R8 supercar, including a convertible and V10-powered variant, and the A1 minicar for Europe.
[Source: Motor Authority]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rsfourever 11:35AM (10/27/2008)
beautiful
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Artie Lange 11:42AM (10/27/2008)
The A8 looks amazing. I like that they are incorporating the R8 vocabulary into their more sedate offerings. A sportier look for the super-sedan would certainly set it apart from its boring, overweight competitors (*cough* 7 Series *cough*).
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Red 11:52AM (10/27/2008)
Out of curiosity, isn't the A5 the coupe version of the A4? Why would Audi need the A5 hatchback when the A4 Avant is so sexy? lol
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taipeileviathan 9:05PM (10/27/2008)
well presumably both the A5 sportback and the A7 will be fastbacks... ala 4 door coupe, like the rapide or something.
i love audi to death, but i too also feel like, well, we're getting to a point where a coupla products might be overlapping a bit much. don't get me wrong, if it's ever coming here i'd much rather have an A5 sportback than an A4 avant...
i used to think that the A7 should be 2-door, more a 6-series fighter, and that the A5 should've been made less gt and more sporty, but i dunno anymore... i guess we'll see how this all plays out when official renders start appearing.
DBG 11:56AM (10/27/2008)
Audi is one of the only car brands that truly excites me like I'm still an 8 year old kid at a car show freaking out and collecting brochures obsessively. Man I love this brand.
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Ligor 12:03PM (10/27/2008)
maybe not
the new headlights on the A8 are definitely not as boring as the rectangular ones on the current production
still a bar of soap looking design though, not that big of a change
now if only they could get that eight balance to be closer to 50/50 - that would be awesome
hyundaifans.com 11:56AM (10/27/2008)
Wow. That A8 is something serious!
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Duders 11:58AM (10/27/2008)
Are the 30" wheels standard? I might want wheels that have some rubber on them, you know, just in case.
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John 12:02PM (10/27/2008)
Can somebody please explain to me the point of having an A5 cabrio when there's an A4 cabrio?
The A4 cabrio already has two doors...which seemed to me to be the appeal of the A5 in the first place...so...now you have two convertibles of roughly the same size and market with the same number of doors?
Then again, VW/Audio also thought the VW Phaeton was a good idea too.
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rsfourever 12:12PM (10/27/2008)
the a5 is replacing the a4-cabrio. the a4-cabrio that is currently on sale is the old B7 platform, whereas the sedan and avant are the new B8 platform. when the a5 cabrio comes into service, the a4 cabrio will be long gone...
gabibiza 3:26AM (10/28/2008)
I saw 2 prototypes around Barcelona, both at the same time! Red number plates and you could see the Arches of the A6 wasnt normal, also the pipes were a bit on the outside at the rear compared to a normal A6! spotted it directly when i saw it! the driver wasnt very happy with me walking round the car looking at the tweaks they doing for the A7 chassis! was nice to see a prototype for the first time in my life!
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coolremo 1:50PM (10/27/2008)
i just love audi's styling. the new models just blow BMW and Merc out of the water.
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dun 2:19PM (10/27/2008)
Need A1 NOW, NOW!!!
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cBraunDesign 2:23PM (10/27/2008)
I love the A8. The shape has wonderful elements of the BMW CS, which is a good thing. Heck, if BMW isn't going to use them, why not?
I drive a BMW, and I love it. But Audi has the best styling of any car company right now (besides Aston Martin). Plus they don't have stupid models like the X1...
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wonkydonkydotnet 3:24PM (10/27/2008)
Man, how cool are Audi's designers!
I raise my beer to you, o architects of awesome.
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ken_aisin 4:59PM (10/27/2008)
Very very impressive.
BMW and Acura designers should take a look at these sketches, and stop making hideous cars one after another.
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P.V. 5:25PM (10/27/2008)
Stunning. Can't wait to see the actual cars.
Acura gets a lot of flak for designing FWD cars, but then again, so has Audi (until its recent switch to mostly AWD cars). Thus, the criticism is fair towards both Acura and Audi.
Quan 9:16PM (10/27/2008)
That A8 looks incredible.
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Jay 12:46AM (10/28/2008)
And they look...the same
While i LIKE the Audi design scheme (about 4-6 years ago, I would have said I loved it), its total unwillingness to change despite continuous refreshes is really starting to bore the hell out of me. The only changes I see now are a slight improvement to the headlights (out with the gaudy LED-bottomed blinkers please!) and a little Ford Focus-inspired upswing in the trim at the rear of the windows. And even those improvements don't seem to touch the A8 drawing. I'm holding judgement until I see the real thing because from what I see, the "cool" factor seems entirely due to the distortion that is present in any good artist's concept drawings; I want to see Audi transfer those curves to the real thing much more so than they did with the A5.
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