Audi plans to reveal the A9 concept in LA.

Not content with its current A8 premium luxury sedan, Audi is apparently set to nudge even higher, with a new A9 concept expected to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month.

With luxury car sales steadily growing in traditional markets like the U.S. and Europe – and booming in emerging markets, notably including China – manufacturers are asking “How high is up?” And the answer appears to be higher than today.

Only weeks after revealing plans for a new flagship sedan to be called the CT6, Cadillac has formally confirmed a report first posted on TheDetroitBureau.com that it will reach even higher with a new model to be known as either the CT8 or CT9.

And it’s not alone. Mercedes-Benz is getting close to the launch of its own super-premium model, the S600 Pullman, a stretched and upgraded version of the wildly popular S-Class sedan – which, in its new version is expected to nudge as high as $1 million.

The luxury market has been undergoing some major changes in recent years. Manufacturers like Audi and Mercedes have pushed further down-market than ever before with models like the new A3 and CLA. These products are drawing in new customers who, it is hoped, will be the buyers of more traditional luxury products in the future.

(Infiniti Q89 Inspiration concept offers “glimpse of the future” for Japanese brand. Click Here for a closer look.)

Mercedes itself has promised to roll out about 30 new or heavily updated vehicles by the end of the decade, roughly one per quarter. BMW and Audi have similar plans in mind, and second-tier makers such as Cadillac and Infiniti have confirmed aggressive product development programs of their own.

“These brands are not just focusing on the low end, they’re laser-focused on every possible segment,” suggests analyst Stephanie Brinley, of IHS Automotive.

The biggest growth in the luxury segment has, in fact, been at the low end with models like the new CLA – arguably the most successful product debut in Mercedes’ history. So why start focusing on the rarified niche even higher than current flagship models like the S-Class, the A8 and BMW’s 7-Series?

Such models could justify the introduction of the next-generation of high-tech safety, performance and infotainment systems, as well as the first autonomous vehicle technologies, analysts suggest.

“The other factor is China,” adds analyst Brinley, who notes that increasingly affluent consumers in the booming Asian nation “show no end to their interest in pushing higher in the luxury car market.”

(Audi set to select from three possible TT concepts. Click Here to see them…and decide which you’d prefer to see in production.)

With top-line brands like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini scoring major sales gains in China, she says, it’s no surprise that more mainstream luxury brands like Mercedes and Audi want a piece of the action.

In an interview Audi & Design magazine accompanied by this teaser image, new Audi design chief Marc Lichte said it will be a coupe-like four-door intended to enhance the sportiness of the brand. It will be part of a broader push towards more “sculptural design” across the Audi line-up, suggested Lichte, with an evolutionary change to the brand’s familiar, single-frame grille.

The concept, scheduled to be shown in L.A. on November 18^th, will ride on the new MLB modular “architecture to be used for a variety of other Audi and Volkswagen Group products, including the next-generation version of the VW Phaeton.

Specific production plans haven’t been disclosed, though Audi reportedly will bring the A9 to showrooms in 2017. An even more sporty, 600-horsepower S9 will follow shortly afterwards.

(Tesla reveals plans for all-wheel-drive and performance versions of Model S, along with new “auto-pilot” system. Click Here to learn more.)

With brands like Audi and Mercedes moving up into their territory, super-premium brands such as Bentley might have to give new thought about their own plans. Bentley, in particular, has long debated the need for a model line below the current Continental family. For now, the focus is on getting an all-new super-premium SUV into production, but the push up by the likes of Audi might lead top-line makers to broaden their own line-ups.