2018 Audi A8 Spied

The fourth generation of Audi’s flagship A8 sedan, set to make its debut sometime next year as a 2018 model. After years of playing catch-up to the Mercedes-Benz S-class and the BMW 7-series, the next A8 will arrive armed for battle with an impressive arsenal of technology features. Likely to attract most attention is a semi-autonomous driving mode derived from Audi’s Piloted Driving technology, which supposedly will let the A8 park itself and autonomously drive itself from a stop up to speeds as high as 37 mph. The A8 will also be equipped with special control units meant to prepare the car to accommodate further development of the company’s autonomous-driving software down the road. A new infotainment system called MMI Touch Response also will be part of the package; it replaces most traditional buttons and knobs with several dash-mounted LED screens. We had a few qualms about this screen-tastic system when we tried it out at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but we assume that Audi will continue to refine its operation before the A8’s official debut.