Ingolstadt, Germany – Audi has confirmed that its coupé-styled Q8 and Q4 SUVs will go into production in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Audi has described the Q8 as having “great spaciousness with emotive design” with “the latest technologies in assistance and infotainment systems – which is a certainly a valid description of the Q8 Concept we saw at the Detroit motor show in January.
Seen as a rival for the BMW X6, Mercedes GLE Coupé and Range Rover, it will be built on the same production line as the Q7 in Bratislava, Slovakia, so it’s a safe guess that it will share the Q7’s platform and most of its engine range, with the tantalising possibility of a four-litre turbodiesel V8-engined SQ8 further down the line to challenge the X6M.
Insiders are saying it will be among the most expensive Audi models with prices for upscale variants close to €100,000 (R1 445 000).
Very Sporty compact SUV
The Q4, on the other hand, is defined as a slightly larger, very sporty version of the Q2, slotting in between the Q3 and the Q5 – roughly opposite the BMW X4, we’d speculate.
The buzz in the cybergarage is that its styling will be based on that of the TT Offroad concept first seen at the 2014 Beijing auto show – but it’s mechanicals are more likely to be shared with the Q3 since it will be produced on the same line at Gyor in Hungary.
And there’s more to come; Audi board member for production, Dr Hubert Waltl, has said the company will expand its line-up of Q models from four to seven by 2019, expecting them by then to make up half its total sales, as opposed to the current one in three.