Audi Isn't Done With Swoopy SUVs: New Q8 On The Way
The second generation is coming out in the "nearer future," according to the company's CEO.
THE BREAKDOWN
- The Q8’s future was uncertain when Gernot Döllner became Audi CEO.
- Audi’s management team has since green-lit a second generation.
- The BMW X6 rival is set to arrive before 2030.
Browse any corner of the Internet, and it won’t take long to realize that SUVs beaten with the coupe stick seem universally hated. However, out in the real world, where people buy things with their presumably hard-earned money, it’s a different situation. What started as a fad in 2007 with the original BMW X6 has become a lucrative segment for luxury automakers and even some mainstream brands.
Audi is no exception, offering multiple Sportback-styled derivatives of its SUVs. The Q8 goes a step further, as it’s marketed as a standalone model. While we haven’t talked about the Mercedes GLE Coupe rival in a while, that doesn’t mean it’s dead. A second-generation model has now been confirmed by the man calling the shots in Ingolstadt.
When Gernot Döllner stepped in as CEO in September 2023, Audi hadn’t decided whether it would be worth pursuing the Q8 any further. Edmunds spoke with the company’s boss and learned that under the new management, the German luxury automaker green-lit a new generation: “When I joined Audi, to my surprise, there was no decision for a successor, but we changed that.”
The New Audi Q8 Is Coming Soonish
Although there haven’t been any spy shots of the new Q8, the #1 at Audi says it’s coming out in the “nearer future.” That tells us it’ll be released before the end of the decade, but we don’t expect to see it until 2028 at the earliest. It’s unclear whether it will have the new design language pioneered by the Concept C and Nuvolari, as a future model’s styling is locked in years before it actually hits the market.
If not, it’ll once again be a Q7 with a more rakish roofline, serving as a far more affordable alternative to the Porsche Cayenne Coupe and Lamborghini Urus. With the Touareg, Volkswagen Group used to have an even “poorer” sister riding on the same MLB Evo architecture, but Wolfsburg’s range-topping SUV has been discontinued. As before, the new Q8 is likely to be assembled in Bratislava, Slovakia, alongside its platform-sharing siblings.
With Audi already giving the new Q7 and first-ever Q9 the S treatment, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume another SQ8 is on its way with a V8 engine. It’s too soon to say whether a new full-blown RS Q8 will follow, but we wouldn’t rule it out, given that there’s already a healthy foundation in higher-end models like the Cayenne and Urus.
2025 Audi RS Q8 and RS Q8 Performance
Motor1's Take: Audi’s confirmation about the Q8 getting a second generation catches us by surprise because the company has been swinging the axe at some of its products lately. The A1 and Q2 recently joined the A5 Coupe/Convertible, TT, and R8 in the car graveyard as part of a wider plan to consolidate the lineup. The A8 flagship sedan is also retiring this year, and there are no immediate plans to replace it. Instead, the three-row Q9 fullsize SUV becomes the crown jewel.
As it turns out, the Q8 deserves to live, at least in Audi’s vision. Then again, it’s likely not that big of an investment since it will be largely the same as the 2027 Q7, just with a different body. I’ll admit the Q8 is a guilty pleasure of mine, as I think it looks better than most swoopy SUVs. It would be interesting to see it with the company’s new “The Radical Shift” design philosophy instead of the already-old styling approach of the new Q7.
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Source: Edmunds
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