Quit while you’re ahead, Audi.
German luxury carmaker Audi may have only just pushed its SUV portfolio even more upmarket with the arrival of the flagship Q8, but it seems that the buck doesn’t stop there. While the Q8 is Ingolstadt’s answer to the Range Rover Sport, the company may be considering introducing a Q9 flagship that will sit at the top of the Audi SUV range, which will better match the Range Rover Vogue and Bentley Bentayga.
Silly us. We thought the Q7 did that.
Audi thinks that while the Q7 is plenty posh, a Q9 would be a more accurate and exacting competitor to level against proper luxury SUVs. When asked that question by UK publication Autocar, the then-CEO Rupert Stadler responded by saying:
“The customers will tell us what they want in the future. [As for the Q9] time will tell.” — Rupert Stadler, Former CEO, Audi AG
With the Audi Q8 already priced at over £65,000 (or roughly $115k), an eventual Q9 would likely command a significant premium above that. What we can’t understand is why Audi would look into a Q9 at all, since it would be within reason that a retooled Q7 could be turned into quite the high-riding limousine (think of the Volvo XC90 Excellence and you’re about there).
What they clearly won’t do is venture any lower than the baby Q2 in terms of compact crossovers. While there’s undoubtedly a little bit of space beneath the stylish compact SUV to fit another model, Audi believes that the role of entry-level is served well by the recently-launched A1 supermini, and that’s the end of that.
For more information on Audi, check out our Showroom.
