Audi Q8 (render)
The first teasers of Audi’s new production-intent Q8 concept have
emerged on the internet. Official sketches of the Q8 flagship SUV were shared
by German news site Welt which spoke to Audi chief designer, March Lichte,
about the brand’s future plans.
The Q8 will
sit alongside the A8 at the top of the brand’s current lineup, with the model
described as a cross between a traditional “SUV and a Sport Coupe”. The Q8 is
believed to be placed above those models in in terms of size, pricing and
features, maybe even targeting the Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne, with
which it shares its MLB-EVO platform that also forms the base for Audi’s Q7 and
next A8.
The production model that will be introduced in the
market in 2018 is expected to get an array of new-gen diesel and gasoline V6
and V8 turbo engines. An SQ8 featuring the SQ7’s 4.0-liter V8 diesel aided by
an electric powered compressor to produce 435 PS and 900 Nm of torque, and perhaps a more extreme RS Q8 model with a bi-turbo gasoline V8
delivering around 600 hp, will likely join the range, as could an all-electric
E-tron model.
This begs the question whether the Q8 is
a continuation of the E-Tron and H-Tron concepts or a separate model, because
if it’s the latter and the two aforementioned Tron studies previewed the Q6,
Audi’s second upcoming SUV, then we fail to see the differentiation Lichte is
talking about.
