Brace Yourselves: The Coupe-Ish Audi Q8 SUV Is Coming

Evidently enough SUV buyers want their behemoths to be coupes as well as family wagons, so Audi is joining its premium German rivals in launching a more aggressive, 'sportier' flagship soft-roader
Brace Yourselves: The Coupe-Ish Audi Q8 SUV Is Coming

Audi has just dropped a pair of teaser images for a new flagship SUV based on the Q7.

Called the Q8 and designed with more inspiration from coupes, it’s set to make a debut at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit next month. Audi calls the sketches a “near-production study”, meaning they’re almost certainly going to make it.

Huge production successes for Mercedes and BMW, with sportier SUVs like the X6 and GLE Coupé, have pushed Audi into designing one of their own – and you can bet it won’t be the last. We already know there’s a Q4 coming, and it’s a safe bet there will be a Q6 as well.

Brace Yourselves: The Coupe-Ish Audi Q8 SUV Is Coming

The company says the Q8 is “unlocking a new segment for the full-size category,” openly acknowledging its greater emphasis on that irritatingly overused word: sportiness. It’s also clear that from a prestige point of view, Audi is positioning the car as a flagship.

We’d take an educated guess that the Q8 will join the RS family at some point, probably using the same twin-turbo V8 found in the RS6.

Brace Yourselves: The Coupe-Ish Audi Q8 SUV Is Coming

Bizarrely, in the press release there’s a link made to the Ur-quattro of the 1980s, with a claim that many of the design cues hark back to that famous car. They mean the wide, flat C-pillar and flared wheel arches, if you’re wondering.

The grille is also, if anything, even bigger than the Q7’s. It’s so big you could almost park an A1 in it. One thing’s for sure: it’s going to look hellish in your rear-view mirror.

The NAIAS starts on 8 January, so keep an eye on the news for more details.

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Comments

Akashneel

How about an SUV based on the TT?

12/22/2016 - 11:15 |
1 | 0

An Audi crossover?

12/22/2016 - 11:23 |
0 | 0

How about no?
Sorry, the TT is a design icon. Please don’t mess with it to fill another niche.

12/22/2016 - 12:12 |
2 | 0
12/22/2016 - 12:15 |
2 | 0
P1eased0nteatme

Audid they not build this before!

12/22/2016 - 11:20 |
3 | 3
......

why they dont slap on a v10 to this bosh

12/22/2016 - 11:23 |
9 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by ......

I wish but you can get audi to special order one with a v10 or w12 in it (believe me they are fast af)

12/30/2016 - 03:52 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

Meanwhile…

12/22/2016 - 11:25 |
123 | 2
llP VeIoclty

British roads are tight as they are and now that the cars are getting bigger it really doesnt help..

12/22/2016 - 12:33 |
2 | 0
Erich Mohrmann

When you thought that Audi can’t make their grilles bigger and you see this…

12/22/2016 - 12:34 |
15 | 0
SuperSnake7

I hate the german car industry for producing this kind of waste.

12/22/2016 - 12:37 |
21 | 2
TheMindGarage

I would love to see the TT RS engine, maybe paired with an electric motor, in this.

12/22/2016 - 15:18 |
0 | 0

Hmm. Sounds like you own an Audi dealership. Plenty of money to be made servicing broken down Q8’s if it gets that drivetrain.

12/22/2016 - 20:23 |
0 | 0
Austin98

I smell another X6….:/

12/22/2016 - 15:20 |
12 | 0

I smell it too.

12/22/2016 - 15:43 |
3 | 0
Albin Nygren

A fat and tasteless SUV for fat and tasteless people!

12/22/2016 - 15:35 |
10 | 2

I can’t bare those stupid things anymore

12/22/2016 - 15:53 |
1 | 0