Audi S8L Incident

The pre-series MY 2023 Audi S8L was undergoing road testing at the time of the incident. The vehicle was decelerating in heavy traffic on northbound [XXX] in Phoenix, AZ, and, while traveling at approximately 7mph, was rear-ended by a Chevrolet Malibu that was traveling at a high rate of speed. The impact caused front end damage to the Malibu, and rear end damage to the Audi, and also pushed the Audi into a BMW Z4, causing minor front end damage to the Audi, and minor rear end damage to the BMW. EDR data retrieved from the Audi indicate that ADAS systems were not active at the time that it was rear-ended by the Chevrolet. The driver of the Audi was belted, and the airbag did not deploy. There were no injuries, but the damage to the Audi was severe enough that towaway was necessary. This incident was part of a multi-car collision, involving five vehicles in total the Audi came into contact with two of those vehicles (Chevrolet and BMW). Because the EDR data indicates that ADAS systems were not active at the time of the incident and the Audi vehicle appears to have performed as designed, VWGoA has no plans for further investigation and considers this matter closed.