Spy photographers have captured the first images of the next-generation Audi Q5 winter testing in the far north. Still a ways out, the model is likely to be the last new internal combustion Q5 ever to go on sale. Audi, like many automakers, is planning for an electric future and announced last year that it would stop developing new gasoline engines in 2026 and that it would stop selling internal combustion vehicles altogether in the ’30s. That likely only leaves the internal combustion Q5, one of Audi’s best-selling models, with one more generation.
For its next luxury compact SUV, Audi is
continuing its development work on the MLB platform with the automaker’s head
of technical development, Oliver Hoffman, calling the lineup of engines coming for
the platform the “best [the company] has ever launched.” A range of mild-hybrid
gas and diesel engines is likely to be offered and the plug-in hybrid model
will once again be offered. The latter is expected to share its drivetrain with
the upcoming B10 A4.
Although this test vehicle is still
well-hidden behind camouflage, the general shape does appear to be changing
slightly. With a seemingly taller front end, the front fascia appears to be
more upright than the current model pictured below. Even though it’s hard to
tell here, it does appear to borrow elements from the new Q6 e-tron such as the
lowered glasshouse.
There are still some questions about when
this model will debut, with many reporting that it may be introduced as early
as 2024, though Autonews has suggested that it could arrive later in 2025,
either as a 2025MY or 2026MY.