Audi‘s 4th-generation A8 (D5) luxury saloon will make its first appearance on July 11 during the ‘Audi Summit’ in Barcelona, Spain, ahead of a public premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to an announcement we received for the event.

The new model will combine the more rakish and chiseled looks of the Audi Prologue Concept series with a slightly larger footprint.

Thanks to Audi’s MLB Evo platform, the new A8 will be lighter than its predecessor, not to mention more compatible with alternative powertrains. Speaking of future-proofing, Audi’s flagship will come with plenty of autonomous features on-board, such as an updated version of the Traffic Jam Assist, which works at speeds of up to 60 km/h (37 mph) during heavy traffic conditions without any input from the driver.

Under the hood, we’re expecting a similar line-up to the current model, with a range of petrol and diesel units, followed by a plug-in hybrid model hitting the market soon after the car’s official debut. Previous reports have indicated that we may be looking at a two petrol and three diesel engine lineup, with a 460 HP 4.0-liter petrol V8 and a 565 HP 6.3-liter petrol W12 joined by a 272 HP 3.0-liter V6 TDI, 408 HP 4.0-liter V8 TDI and a 500 HP 5.0-liter V10 TDI.

Expect to see Audi’s all-new A8 begin arriving in showrooms towards the end of 2017, when it will finally meet up with BMW’s new 7-Series and the ever-successful Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

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