German luxury carmaker Audi continues its slow tease of its upcoming flagship SUV, the Q8, ahead of the model’s official launch later this year. Not the first teaser, the Q8 is expected to set new levels of luxury and agility for Audi’s SUV range, elevating the experience beyond what was previously offered by the Q7 (which didn’t exactly leave us grumbling).
What’s clear with the released image is that the Q8 will remain true to the design that was previewed with the Q8 Concept and the Q8 Sports Concept. There are larger headlights compared to the concept cars, and the production car will gain doorhandles, perhaps the most notable departure from the concept car (you surely didn’t expect no doorhandles).
*A spyshot of an Audi Q8 prototype, relatively uncovered.
Though the exterior will be relatively unchanged in the gestation between concept and production, the interior will not. Rather than the edgy design we saw in the concepts, the production-spec Q8 will utilise a dual-touchscreen setup, as seen in the A6 and A8 saloons previously. At least it won’t be a button-fest, something Audis used to be famous for.
The Q8 will be built off of the MLB Evo platform from the Volkswagen Group. MLB Evo has been used liberally across the VW Group’s offerings, from the Volkswagen Touareg up to the Lamborghini Urus, with the latter car offering some indication as to how agile the Q8 could be set up to be (should that be what Audi’s going after). If it’s out-and-out luxury, they could take knowhow from the Bentley Bentayga, another VW Group product that uses MLB Evo.
*Remaining faithful to the 2017 Q8 Concept
Powertrains are set to be rather familiar, all turbocharged, sporting either 6- or 8-cylinders arranged in a V. A plug-in petrol-electric hybrid setup is expected in the mid-term too, likely pairing a V6 mill to an electric motor, the way Bentley’s done with the Bentayga PHEV. Just don’t expect a Philippe Starck charger for it.
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