Audi Q9 debuts world-first curved OLED rear lights

Audi says its new Q9 sport utility vehicle is the first production car to feature three-dimensionally curved digital OLED rear-light panels, made possible by glass substrates just 0.1 millimetres thick.

Audi says its new Q9 sport utility vehicle is the first production car to feature three-dimensionally curved digital OLED rear-light panels, made possible by glass substrates just 0.1 millimetres thick.

The third-generation lighting technology allows the panels to follow the contours of the vehicle’s body and makes the lights more visible from different angles, particularly from the sides, according to the German automaker.

Audi has used OLED lighting in its production cars for about a decade, beginning with models such as the TT RS. The Q9’s rear-light system contains six digital OLED panels with a total of 512 individually controllable segments.

The outer curved panel contains 99 segments, while the centre and inner panels contain 84 and 73 segments respectively. These figures describe the panels’ segment counts; the 512 segments are distributed across all six panels.

Drivers can choose from eight light signatures through the vehicle’s multimedia interface (MMI). Audi says the system also introduces partially activated light patterns, allowing the rear lights to display distinctive designs at night.

The lighting system also has a safety function. When the vehicle detects certain hazards or a breakdown, a communication-light feature can display a warning symbol in the shape of a triangle in the rear lights, alerting other road users.

Audi unveiled the Q9 in July 2026, so the lighting technology is part of the model’s previously announced features rather than a new vehicle launch this week. In the United States, the Q9 starts at $87,700, and Audi says the curved OLED rear lights are standard on Prestige trim models. The Q9 and SQ9 are expected to reach US dealerships in the fourth quarter of 2026.