There's a lot going on in the otherwise relatively quiet luxury sedan segment right now. Mercedes recently unveiled its thoroughly redesigned S-Class, the BMW 7-Series will follow in the coming months, Lexus is ending production of the LS model after 37 years, and now the future of the Audi A8 is uncertain.
How did we come to this conclusion? We noticed that the flagship model from Ingolstadt was no longer available in the German configurator. That's why German journalists contacted Audi. The A8 is actually no longer available to order. Orders were closed about two weeks ago. The last A8 could be configured until February 18th.
When asked about global availability, A8 spokesman Marcel Bestle explained that it depends on stock levels and other factors. Audi doesn't give a production end date - but if the luxury sedan can no longer be ordered domestically, it's more a question of when than if.
The D5 generation of the A8 has meanwhile already become obsolete: it has been on the market since 2017. The facelift, introduced at the end of 2021, was apparently not attractive enough to dissuade a significant number of buyers from the 7 Series or S-Class models. The model's facelift also included a re-lengthened version for China, which revived the historic "Horch" name to compete with Maybach's S-Class.
Although the future of the A8 is uncertain, there is reason for cautious optimism. Marcel Bestle told Motor1 that “details on a possible successor will be announced later.” The key word is “possible,” as it is unclear whether a fifth-generation model has even been given the green light. With no photos of a prototype yet, it is unlikely that a new A8 will hit the market in the coming years.
Last October, Automobilwoche learned from an Audi representative that the four rings were “on the hunt for a platform for a possible successor.” Due to stricter emissions regulations, a further facelift for the D5 model was ruled out. With the approach of the Euro 7 standard, cleaner drives will be required.
