Audi A8: Who knows the coupe?

Ingolstadt, 10. July 2017

For some time now, Audi is celebrating the new A8, the on 11. July 2017 will be officially unveiled. What hardly anyone knows: not Much would have been missing 20 years ago, the A8 series is more comprehensive.

Geneva 1997: A special A8

We look back: in 1997, Audi toyed with the idea of a Coupéversion of the then three-year-old A8 to derive. Was realized the project with the German company IVM Automotive. There, they built a near-series study in the shade "Ming Blue Pearl", which was presented at the Geneva Salon. The car was significantly shorter than the A8 in those days and got new sheets on its aluminum body. Of course, a B-pillar was absent, which is why it seats with integrated seat footage from the then Audi convertible strap.

Someone would have bought the coupe?

The A8 Coupé was slowed but by sales and Marketing. There had been concerns about the sales figures of a two-door A8. They feared to suffer the same fate as the 8-series of BMW: beautiful, but the paragraph rather mau. So the Audi-luxury-glider was attached to the files, since 2002, no longer publicly shown prototype should be in possession of IVM.

An A9 is coming at some point?

In the meantime, the output has changed in situation: Audi plays completely, of course, in the Premium League. At the same time a market for luxury coupes such as the Mercedes S-class and the Bentley Continental GT. BMW brings to 2018, a new 8-series on the market. And here, Audi wants to sit idly by? After all, the end of 2014, had not taken the study, "Prologue" just the Design of the new A8 anticipated, but speculation about an A9 coupe, a new food is given.(rh)

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