Audi’s styling team tends not to go in for dramatic design changes to signpost its new models, often leaning heavily on features like the headlights to help us differentiate one generation from the next.
And the all-new B10-generation A4 is no different. It gains a distinctive set of LED headlights whose DRLs consist of dozens of small light blocks that can be configured in different ways.
Though Audi hasn’t publically revealed details yet about how the new lights work or what they can do, we’ve seen them on prototypes of the A4 and, in a slightly different form, on the next A3. And these latest spy shots of an A4 Avant give us our closest look yet at the new lights.
The new DRLs take up far more lamp real estate than is the norm for single-piece headlights; almost half of the lights unit by our reckoning. And instead of consisting of a continuous strip of lights above the main light, they take the form of a double-height row of LED blocks above an LED main headlight. As these pictures show, the DRLs can be configured to show a strobing orange strip when a turn signal is activated, or the whole lot can be lit save for a few left switched off to create a pattern.
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We can only speculate at this stage, but it’s easy to imagine how these lights could be used in all kinds of different ways. It’s likely that they’ll show some kind of animation as a welcome greeting, but Audi could choose to show different patterns for different trim levels, or maybe change the pattern depending on which driving mode is selected.
Of course, there’s far more to the next A4 than a new set of lights. The first all-new A4 since 2016, it’s likely to be the last one to be offered with combustion engines as the brand has pledged to introduce no new ICE cars after 2026. But because the A4 sneaks out before that cutoff it will be offered with a familiar lineup of mild-hybrid, petrol, and diesel engines, plus a PHEV and sporty S- and RS4 variants.
