Audi unveiled the updated A8 just recently at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. The facelifted Audi A8 will go on sale in India as early as next month. We recently spotted the car in Mumbai which was followed by an A3 (pictured below). Neither the A3 nor the A8 featured any camouflage but were running on test plates. Audi had conduced global testing of the A8 facelift in India with the car being spotted multiple times trundling along the roads of Mumbai. The Audi A3 will be launched next year, competing with the upcoming Mercedes CLA.
The biggest update to the 2014 Audi A8 are the new matrix LED lights and the car also gets minor revisions to the exteriors. The interior gets a new 3-spoke steering wheel along with an improved night vision camera. The boot is now bigger by 10-litres and the overall changes are quite minimal. Bringing in the car to India quickly is a good move as Mercedes-Benz plans to launch the S-Class in India next year, which is sure to steal both the A8 and BMW 7-Series’ thunder. The new S-Class makes its competitors look old and outdated and both Audi and BMW are working on next generation versions of their flagship sedans.
The Audi A8 will continue to draw power from the same set of engines which are – 3.0 and 4.2-litre TDI units in diesel along with 4.2 and 6.3-litre FSI units in petrol. The Audi A8 has a big disadvantage in India as it is the only car, along with the Jaguar XJL, which comes via the CBU route. The 7-Series and S-Class are locally assembled which gives them a price advantage against the high import duty levied on fully imported cars. Audi has no plans to do locally assembly of the A8 in the near future.
