The Audi A8 L Horch is a stretched Maybach rival for China

The ‘standard’ Audi A8 L is not a short car. It’s 5.3m long from nose to tail in fact. Hopefully that gives you some context for when we say that the new, chrome-ified A8 L Horch is 13cm longer still than a ‘standard’, recently facelifted, long-wheelbase A8. 

This thing looks so offensive we actually quite like it. 

The Horch (not heard that name for a while) will only be sold in China, where Audi currently shifts 60 per cent of all the A8s it builds worldwide. We’ve no idea how much it’ll cost when it goes on sale, but it looks as though Audi has Maybach firmly in its sights.

We should mention the chrome again. Lots isn’t there? You get a different grille in the Horch to separate it from the boggo A8s, whilst there’s also chrome mirrors, plenty of Horch badging and those massive blingy wheels. 

On the inside, there’s diamond quilted upholstery, deep-pile floor mats and cushions with the logo embossed on them. If that doesn’t say luxury, we don’t know what would…

There’s also a larger panoramic roof and extra equipment as standard. Audi will even throw in the ‘relaxation seats’ for free – you should hope so too. 

To really bring the fight to Maybach, you can have the Horch with a two-tone (one on top of the other) paint finish. The combinations are as follows; mythos black and florette silver, florette silver and mythos black, and firmament blue and ultra blue. Lovely. 

Oh, and the 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine is the best-selling powertrain in China, so that’s your only option. Although it’s highly likely you’ll buy a Horch and never step foot in the driver’s seat, so what does the engine even matter?

Thoughts, Internet?