The Audi A8 is a four door, full size, luxury sedan manufactured
and marketed by the German automaker Audi since 1994. Succeeding
the Audi V8, and now in its fourth generation, the A8 has been offered
with both front and permanent all-wheel drive and in short- and
long-wheelbase variants.
Notable for being the first mass-market car with an aluminum
chassis, all A8 models have used this construction method co-developed
with Alcoa and marketed as the Audi Space Frame.
A
mechanically-upgraded, high-performance version of the A8 debuted in 1996 as
the Audi S8. Produced exclusively at Audi's Neckarsulm plant,
the S8 is fitted standard with Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive system,
and is available in short- and long-wheelbase form, the latter coming in 2020.
