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Audi's new A8 (2010): the first teaser photos

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 21 July 2009 17:34 Audi has released a teaser picture and sketch of its new A8 limo. Buried amongst the press material for Ingolstadt’s 100th anniversary were the two teaser images: the sketch reveals the headlight and grille design; the picture shows the A8 hidden beneath a black Audi-branded dustsheet.The A8 is currently in the final stages of testing, but Audi promises an unveil in ‘the late autumn of 2009’ – the new aluminium limo isn’t expected at the Frankfurt motor show this September, so we should see it in LA later in the year. Audi claims its ‘new flagship offers an impressive palette of innovative technologies and will redefine the benchmark for luxury saloons.’  A typically bullish claim – how will Audi match its boasts?The basic tech remains the same, with an aluminium chassis – which will also underpin the next Bentley Continental – that contributes to a significant weight saving.

Car production increases again

THE SOCIETY of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said UK manufacturers built 91,282 cars in August, up 16.2%, or 12,705, on the same period in 2012, leaving year-to-date volumes 3.1% ahead of 2012, at 984,545. The figures showed 20,298 cars were made for the home market this year, up 21.1%, while 70,984 were for export, up 14.8%. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The past 12-months has been one of the most productive since late 2008." Samuel Tombs, of consultancy Capital Economics, said the CBI figures showed the manufacturing sector "continuing to go from strength to strength".

Lorenzo Ramaciotti visits RCA for 'Two of a Kind' project

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Fiat-Chrysler's head of global design, has visited the Royal College of Art as part of the Fiat ‘Two of a Kind' project explaining how Italian design has become world-famous in all fields in a talk themed ‘The Roots of Italian Car Design'. The ‘Two of a Kind' project asks four teams of four Vehicle Design students to design innovative exterior and interior proposals for how the Fiat 500 and the Panda might look in 2020, taking interactivity, digital interface, sustainability and global appeal into account. Maserati brought along a Quattroporte, a GranTurismo Sport as well as an Alfa Giulietta Sportiva to complement his talk in the hope it would encourage students to consider what the carmaker believes are the three concepts of the legacy of Italian car design: sportiness-dynamism; elegance-balance; and character-personality.