AUDI'S fourth generation high-tech A8 luxury saloon is now available to order priced from £69,100 with first deliveries in early 2018.

It comes with the latest driving aids and is the first production car to have been developed specially for highly automated driving.

The Audi AI traffic jam pilot, which forms part of the package of features that will begin to be rolled out from 2018, takes charge of driving in slow-moving traffic at up to 37mph on major roads where a physical barrier separates the two carriageways.

The system will be accessible via an AI button that will be positioned on the centre console.

The new A8 also comes with the Audi parking pilot and the Audi AI garage pilot which will autonomously steer the luxury saloon into and out of a parking space or a garage, while the manoeuvre can be monitored remotely by the driver who can start the appropriate system from a smartphone using the new myAudi app.

It broadcasts a live feed of the parking manoeuvre taken from the car's 360-degree cameras on their handheld device for easy monitoring.

The new A8 makes its debut with two re-engineered V6 turbo engines - a 3.0 TDI diesel and a 3.0 TFSI petrol.

The diesel develops 286bhp, and the petrol version 340bhp.

An eight-cylinder TDI - a 4.0-litre with 435bhp - will follow later as will the exclusive top engine version, the W12 with a displacement of 6.0litres.

All four engines operate in conjunction with a belt alternator starter, which is the nerve centre of the A8's 48-volt electrical system.

This mild hybrid technology enables the car to coast with the engine switched off, and to restart smoothly.

An A8 L e-tron quattro with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain will follow at a later date. Its 3.0 TFSI engine and electric motor combination achieves 449bhp while its lithium-ion battery stores enough power for about 31 miles of electric driving.