Audi is a little late to the large premium crossover party, but they are on their way as we speak. The model in question will be christened the Q9 and will sit above the company's current flagship high-rider, the Q7, which shares most nuts and bolts with the VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga, and Lamborghini Urus.
We have seen several prototypes in the open over the last couple of years, and more recently, the Audi Q9 stepped into the limelight after our man with the cam nabbed two testers at the end of January. One of them was the regular Q9, and the other was the sportier SQ9, featuring quad exhaust tips and a few other updates over its lesser siblings.
It clearly looks like an Audi, so you won't mistake it for anything else. We secretly wished the design team had given it more traditional headlamps, but they opted for split units instead. These flank the large grille and sit below the clamshell-like hood. Out back, it had what appeared to be provisional taillights, yet the final ones will probably include a full-width light bar.
Audi's upcoming Q9 has a long wheelbase for a spacious cockpit. It will likely get optional three-row seating, yet we expect the third-row to be cramped and, therefore, suitable for children. It might also come with a tablet-like infotainment system and a similar design for the digital gauge cluster sitting next to it. The Ingolstadt car brand will wrap everything into a premium package with multiple standard goodies sprinkled with the latest technology and safety gear.
Photo: Baldauf
An updated version of the MLB platform, the same one used by the next A5 (the current A4's successor), should lie beneath the skin. It is a bit too early to speak about the powertrain family, but it might comprise a few mild hybrids alongside at least one plug-in hybrid. The 2.0L diesel is said to make its way under the hood, too, and there won't be a battery-electric version.
The wraps should come off either before the year or sometime in 2025, and when they do, the model will reveal a design similar to the one penned out by Kelsonik and shared on Instagram a few hours ago. The digital illustrations build on the latest spy shots, and we expect the final product to look about the same, save for a few tweaks to the front and rear bumpers and maybe to the lighting units at both ends.
Thus, these renderings are certainly on to something, as they provide an unofficial glimpse into the first-ever Audi Q9's design, a model that will take a swing at the Mercedes GLS, BMW X7, Range Rover, and other similarly-sized crossovers/SUVs.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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