Yannis

Spy Shots: Audi’s new Q5 crossover

After the successful launch of the Audi Q7 last year, the luxury carmaker from Ingolstadt is preparing the launch of its second “Q” car, tipped to go on sale early next year. Labelled the Q5, the new soft-roader will go head-to-head with the awkwardly styled BMW X3 as well as an upcoming rival from Mercedes Benz known as the GLK-Class. Company Chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn described the Q5 as “an overtly sporty vehicle that will add an important product to the Audi model range,” adding “it will take us a big step closer to vehicle sales of 1.4 million per year, a target that we have set ourselves for 2015.”

These renderings show that that the Q5 is likely to follow Audi’s new design trend of adding a row of LEDs under the headlights. Under the new sheet metal, Audi will add its next generation version of quattro all-wheel drive, which is expected to be much lighter than the current system and suffer from less wear-and-tear. A new suspension system with adaptive air-cushioning will also feature.

Early estimates put the price of the new SUV at €35,000 to €50,000, which will likely rule out aluminum construction. The vehicle will also miss out on third-row seating, however, storage space will be close to 500L. Engine options will include a 330hp 4.2L V8 with 440Nm on tap, as well as a 3.2L V6 with 265hp. The entry-level model will come with a smaller 210hp 2.0L TFSI motor. Launch date is set for early 2008, with a smaller Q3 model and sister company Volkswagen’s Tiguan SUV, which is based on the same platform as the Q5, expected to debut soon after.

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bmer

Those CGIs look too much like Q7.

Yannis

That's cause those were pics of Q7 before they were photoshopped.

Yannis

World Car Fans has spy pics of upcoming Audi Q5 SUV. The car is too disguised to see anything specific but you can get an impression of the size and the general shape.

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

EnI

The profile looks like shrunken Q7 = more crossover-ish than SUV-ish profile. Very Coupe-ish. Almost Infiniti EX -like.

Is that really A5-like wavy side character line, or is it just me?

Yannis

Yes i noticed that too.

Choleric

Thankfully it wont have that awful Cross Coupe Quattro Cncept D-Pillar. But it does look like it has the tailights from the concept, which is good.

Centurion

The Q5 is already here:

Yannis

The Japanese copycats have done it again...

Merc1

Trust me this Audi won't look anything like that Acura MDX crapola.

M