The Audi A8 is understated and elegant...but its design is a little long in the tooth. It stays as is for model year 2009, but a significant revision is due for 2010, and we should expect to see that car unveiled sometime during the upcoming show season. Thanks the Gulf4Cars forum, we might have our first look at what to expect. Our Arabic's a little rusty, so we don't know where these scans (at least they appear to be scans) came from, but they look fairly solid, so let's comment on what we can see.
[Source: Gulf4Cars]
Assuming they're accurate (far from guaranteed), the photos (or 'chops) show an evolutionary exterior design -- no surprise, as the A8's a good-looking car. Up front, the gigunda shield grille is bookended by new-look headlamps that follow the lead of the 2009 A4. Down low, the side intake/fog lamp housings are reshaped as well. Out back, the taillamps ape the ones found on the A4, A5, and revised A6 -- a move that ensures the family resemblance is maintained straight through the lineup.
Inside, there are some immediately noticeable changes. Yes, the design themes are typical Audi fare, but the control arrangement has been rethought. A restyled shifter is now located farther back and closer to the driver on the center console. It looks kinda lonely there now, because the main MMI controller and audio functions have been relocated to the angled console extension under the climate controls -- where the ashtray lives on the current car. It'll be interesting to see how this works in practice, because while the audio and MMI interface placements in the current A8 family may seem unorthodox, they're actually easy to use.
We'll keep you posted as more info on the next-gen A8 trickles out in the weeks and months to come, when it'll become obvious whether these images are legit or not.
