Audi Q8 flagship SUV teased before Detroit

The Q8 is revealed here in these drawings as what Audi calls a “near-production study”. So when it reaches UK showrooms, probably in 2018, it should look pretty much exactly like this.  

Audi’s overdue rival for cars like the BMW X6 and Mercedes GLE, the Q8 takes a proven SUV package (in this case the Q7 seven-seater) and wraps it up in coupe-inspired bodywork enclosing a luxurious four-person cabin with four doors and a lift-up tailgate accessing what should be a big boot. 

Although it will be lower than the Q7 it will be just as long and with only two rows of seats there should be no shortage of space inside. 

The car is “a synthesis of the emotional styling of a coupé and the spaciousness that typifies an SUV, with all its variability,” says Audi. 

Apart from what we can assume to be the next stage in Audi’s corporate look with that wide new octagonal grille and more three-dimensional sculpting, the Q8 design is said to include some heritage design cues. Recognise the flat C-pillar and pronounced line over the wheelarches? They are said to have been inspired by the original Quattro.

The Q8 may not quite be the result of a union between boxy Q7 and the Ur Quattro of the 1980s, but we sort of see where Audi is coming from with the idea of it. And overall the concept does look finely proportioned, while that relatively flat roofline, with little of the severe coupe slope of the BMW X6, should ensure plenty of headroom in the back.

For such a flagship Audi will naturally be wheeling out all its most advanced and powerful drivetrains (the drawing shows e-tron hybrid badges), plus all its latest technology toys, for the car.

The new Audi Q8 will be fast, efficient, hi-tech and luxurious…and if these taster images really are an accurate reflection of the production version, a predictably handsome addition to an ever-expanding model range.