New Audi Q8 to lead upmarket SUV push

Audi's new Q8 will go on sale in 2017, priced between £50-90k, and is just one of seven new large SUVs planned by VW Group

Prices for Audi's Q8 should start at around £50,000, as this Autocar image shows how the model could look

Audi has approved plans to launch a new range-topping crossover SUV to challenge the likes of the BMW X6, Range Rover Sport and upcoming Mercedes-Benz MLC, company chief Rupert Stadler has revealed. 

The new model, set to be called Q8, has been granted official production approval and is progressing through a development programme that aims to have it on sale within the next three years. 

Speaking at the recent Beijing motor show, Stadler revealed that the upmarket crossover forms a crucial part of Audi’s growth strategy that will see it extend its line-up by no fewer than 11 new models by 2020. Five of those models have been identified as additional SUVs in the form of the Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6 and Q8.

This will push Audi’s range to a 60-strong model line-up, with the company predicting that 40 per cent of its annual sales - around 800,000 units - will come from SUVs. Stadler admitted that more investment would be diverted to SUVs as a result. 

“We see a great deal of potential, particularly in the SUV segment and in the especially prestigious full-size category,” he said. 

The Q8 has been conceived to extend Audi’s reach at the top of its line-up and to provide the company with added sales in potentially crucial markets such as China, the Middle East and the United States.

In terms of performance and technology, the Q8 is described as being on a par with Audi’s A8 flagship saloon, albeit with the added ability to head off road thanks to its raised ride height and, on top-end models, adjustable air suspension. 

The Q8 is set to crown Audi’s Q line-up, while a four-door coupé version of the A8, called A9, is still on the cards to top Audi’s range of A-badged cars.

Ingolstadt’s big new SUV, which will have an overall length of more than five metres, has a projected price range of between £50,000 for an entry-level turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol model and £90,000 for a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 RS Q8 flagship.

A range of V6 and V8 petrol and diesel engines will be offered, alongside plug-in hybrids and possibly an all-electric version to rival the upcomingTesla Model X SUV. 

The Q8 is set to receive its own, unique five-door body styled under the stewardship of new Audi design boss Marc Lichte. Among the various elements expected to set it apart from the more practical second-generation Q7, due later this year, is a racier front end with a more sporting grille, more obvious tapering around each corner, shallower side glass, a generously sloping roofline and a more heavily angled rear window.

In the same way that BMW has spun the X6 off the X5, the Q8 is set to share its mechanical package with the forthcoming new Q7. 

The basis for the Q8 is the second-generation MLB (modular longitudinal architecture) platform. The structure forms part of a family of platforms, the development of which is being led by Audi. It is set to underpin a wide range of upmarket SUVs, including the new Q7, the third-generation Porsche Cayenne, a secret new Cayenne coupé, the third-gen Volkswagen Touareg, the recently confirmed Bentley SUV and the spectacular Lamborghini Urus.

The Q8 and Bentley will be the plushest and most premium of the SUVs, but Stadler believes the pair won’t clash, as “Bentley can’t fill the gap” of less than £100,000 into which the range-topping Q8 will be pitched. 

Insiders say the MLB structure has far greater flexibility than that used today, with added scope for variability within the wheelbase and track widths in a move that, it is suggested, will lead to a wider differentiation between the models planned by the VW Group’s various brands.  

The key development, however, is the adoption of aluminium, thinner-gauge high-strength steel and carbonfibre-reinforced plastic, which together promise to bring a significant reduction in weight of up to 300kg in the Q7 and a kerb weight below 2000kg for the base Q8.