Just as the new Mercedes S-Class is getting its grounded in the UK market, Audi announced the launch of their flagship luxury saloon, the A8. The car hits the British soil in January 2014, boasting lightly revised exterior, new features inside, more power and greater efficiency.

Not sure if all that is enough to beat the mighty Merc, but the A8 is not a complete underdog. The Audi takes great pride in the amount of technology it packs. The car comes with weight-optimised, predominantly aluminium Audi Space Frame (ASF), new MatrixBeam LED headlights and an upgraded line-up of EU6-compliant engines. Granted, you have to be an IT consultant – or a cement salesman, which amounts to the same thing – to be interested in that kind of stuff, but indeed, some people are.

The headlight system in the 2014 Audi A8 uses 25 individual LEDs per unit that can be switched on and off or dimmed individually depending on the situation. What’s more, the lighting system in the A8 uses predictive route data from the navigation system with MMI Touch to adjust the distribution of light in response to the current driving situation. Try explaining that to the person next to you at a dinner party if you want him gone.

The A8’s engine lineup is far more interesting. You can buy this car as the A8L with a massive W12 6.3 liter petrol engine that develops 500 PS, and returns 24 mpg. Amazingly, the smaller S8 with its 4.0 TFSI V8 engine is more powerful. It makes 520 PS and goes from 0 to 60 in in 4.1 seconds, yet cylinder on demand technology also permits up to 29.4 mpg, corresponding to 225 grams CO₂ per kilometre.

On the other side of the scale you find the A8 hybrid combines a 2.0 TFSI engine and electric motor to produce a system output of 245PS and system torque of 480 Nm (354.03 lb-ft). It can do up to 45 mpg.

Here’s the pricing for every Audi A8 model in the range: