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Audi A8 Celebrates 20 Years in Production

Ever wondered why Audi has a hard time convincing the world it's a true luxury brand, the maker of cars that are equal to any Mercedes-Benz. Part of it has to do with the longevity of its nameplates. For instance, their flagship sedan, the A8, is just celebrating two decades in production.
First Audi A8 generation 1 photo
Photo: Audi
Of course, the company had been building full-size sedan before that under the V8 badge, but the first generation A8 (codenamed 4D) was presented in February 1994 and went into full scale production at the Neckarsulm factory in June the same year.

Which means it's now been in production for exactly two decades. To put how young the A8 is into perspective, know that Dacia's Logan sedan just celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special edition. By comparison, the first car officially called an "S-Class" came out in 1972 and has heritage that can be traced back to 1954, 40 years before the Audi A8's debut.

Basically, Mercedes is "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and Audi is Ace of Base or Boyz II Men – one is a classic, the other a modern classic.

Designed for the full-size luxury segment, the first A8 model was based on the Volkswagen Group D2 platform and built on the Audi Space Frame aluminum chassis. It wasn't until 1997 that the A8 received its first quattro all-wheel drive system.

Audi released the second generation in 2002 and the third (and current) one in late 2009. The Mk3 can easily be considered the most innovative model, built on the the MLB platform. In its second year of production, the current model received a long-wheelbase model to appeal to Chinese consumers and a hybrid concept was unveiled. A mid-life facelift introduced Matrix LED headlights, extra safety tech and updated engines.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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