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Audi is working on a luxurious SUV to rival the Range Rover, according to boss Wolfgang Durheimer

Audi research and development boss, Wolfgang Durheimer, has revealed that the brand is working on an even more luxurious SUV to sit above the Q7 in the line up. Likely to be badged an Audi Q8, the newcomer would go head to head with the new Range Rover and Bentley’s SUV, due in 2015.

“Could we go bigger than the Q7? Yes we could definitely do this,” Durheimer confirmed. “Bentley has proved there is definitely room for more expensive SUVs, and I wouldn’t mind giving them a challenge.”

A top-spec Q7 currently costs around £60,000, suggesting this new model could have a starting price closer to £100,000. Durheimer isn’t worried about stepping on the toes of other brands within the VW Group either, such as Bentley and Lamborghini, who both have expensive SUVs in the pipeline.

“We allow inter-brand competition, it’s healthy,” Durheimer revealed. “If the product is good, the customer clinics are positive and the finances add up we’re always happy to go ahead.”

He continued: “In fact, I hope that Bentley does bring its SUV to market, it will definitely help us. I am fighting for the Lamborghini Urus to make production too – Lamborghini is under Audi’s control.”

But a top-of the range model isn’t the only SUV Durheimer has in mind: “When I started at Audi I planted two poles, one was for this diesel-electric supercar and the other was the Q2,” he told us. “In markets like China you want to fill the SUV segment from the bottom, but in more developed markets like the US and the UK you might want to start from the top.”




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Audi R&D Boss Confirms High-End Q8 SUV is Planned

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