Audi's ever widening portfolio of SUVs now starts with the Q2, a funky subcompact for the city. However, the German company has plans to launch a flagship Q8 model that embodies everything we like about the brand: sharp design, innovative technology, and performance.
At the dawn of the Detroit Auto Show, we got another glimpse of the Q8, one of the worst disguised production cars we've ever seen. It's even got regular-sized door mirrors, which you never see on studies these days, plus it's road-worthy.
The Q8 earns Audi a place at the flagship SUV table, where BMW has aspirations to join with its mich-discussed X7. This really is Marc Lichte's masterpiece, taking Audi's bold design language to the next level, while also promising even more luxury than the Q7.
Once you're able to look past the hexagonal chrome grille and the LED lights you can cut grass with, the paint gets you. It's called Bombay Blue suggests Audi wants to shake off the dull gray sedan look.
Does this combine the best elements of a coupe and an SUV? No. There's no sloping roof, like on the BMW X6 and Mercedes GLE Coupe. The headroom for the rear seat passengers looks the same as in the front. The only "coupe" part of the design is the sloping side window, which makes the Sportback trunk stand out even more.
The Q8 show car integrates a brand new head-up display that blends the virtual world and a new user interface with large touchscreens. Like the setup? You will see it first in the production version of the A8 sedan. However, the Q8 is set to debut in 2018.
It's what customers want. In 2016, Audi sold more than 100,000 Q7 examples. That's double what the previous generation averaged.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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