RENDERED SPECULATION: Size Matters! Do YOU Think It's Time For Audi To STEP UP To The Plate With A Full-sized Q9 SUV?

Looking across the automotive landscape, we know one thing rings true in today's automotive market: Size matters. Buyers are flocking for large sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks.

And the want is only getting stronger.

So, it perplexes us when brands, like Audi, have invested in scaling their product portfolio but are NOT delivering what customers exactly want. That would be seating for seven in a full-size SUV.

According to Auto Bild, that may be changing. Rumors suggest that the four rings is tipped to reveal a full-size Q9 by the end of 2020. Obviously, things are just underway in the new year and this is the first report of such news.

It makes a lot of sense though. The Mercedes-Benz GLS has been a suburban parent's dream and the all-new BMW X7 is doing quite well. Why wouldn't Audi want to go toe-to-toe?

That said, the Auto Bild team commissioned a rendering of what a Q9 may look like.

Click "Read Article" to see the full image and let us know what you think in the comments below.



Read Article

mre30 - 1/9/2020 12:02:06 AM

-2 Boost

Seems like a total no-brainer.

While they are at it, they should cancel the current Bentayga and re-launch that as a full-on, larger, luxury 7-seater SUV.

The Bentayga is a total embarrassment from a sales standpoint as well as an appearance standpoint.

For real shame place a Bentayga next to a Q7 - its like putting a 1979 Chevy Caprice next to a 1979 Sedan DeVille - basically a blatant, badge-engineering exercise except the price differential is $200,000. Shameful.

HoustonMidtown - 1/9/2020 6:29:59 AM

+3 Boost

The Bentayga is 50% of Bentley's sales....hardly a sales embarrassment

mre30 - 1/9/2020 9:50:56 AM

-1 Boost

...not sure what the 2019 sales total is, but in 2018, Bentley sold 9,500 vehicles WORLDWIDE. So if what you say is true, they moved 4,750 Bentayga's WW. Not really a big number which is my point.

There still seem to be plenty of 2018 Bentayga's (2019's too) in the dealer pipeline also.

You tell me...would a luxo, larger (either spacious 4 seater or real 7-seater) have sold more units? Could Bentley have charged more? Discounted less?

By the way, the current Bentayga (7-seat option) is a joke with those leather jumper seats in the rear. Just observing that Bentley kind of 'phoned in' the Bentayga.

dumpsty - 1/10/2020 12:57:36 PM

+1 Boost

it's not a no-brainer.

if they make an SUV that large, they're essentially just making it for the US & maybe China. and if Audi believes they have a good design that will sell, they'll have to consider assembly in the US as well. But that a huge crap-shoot bc the R&D would have to be leveraged with a similarly-sized version for VW too.

But if if Audi is kinda being smart, it could be sold to VW corporate with a possible alternate design variation for a large Lambo SUV. Bring back a burly Rambo-Lambo?

Truthy - 1/9/2020 9:41:58 AM

-2 Boost

Not unless they are going to bring something new to the table. The Q8 is nothing we have not seen from Audi. If the Q9 is just a longer Q7 then do not bother.
The BMW X7 is an example of getting it right.

supermoto - 1/9/2020 10:23:14 AM

+3 Boost

I see more Bentaygas than any other Bentley here in Los Angeles. Here at least, they are the best selling Bentley.

TomM - 1/9/2020 12:23:07 PM

+1 Boost

Based on reports from family and friends - Audi really needs to address its Quality issues and the extreme cost of repairs. OR they should go out of the car business.

Section_31_JTK - 1/9/2020 7:26:47 PM

+1 Boost

I would love to see a true 3 row 7-8 passenger SUV from Audi.

MDarringer - 1/9/2020 8:47:57 PM

+1 Boost

But it needs NOT to look like another copy/paste styling job. The Audi gaping hole needs to take a hike.

All of Audi's SUVs look pudgy and--increasingly--ugly in a Lexus spindle kind of way.

The X7 is upright, gregarious, and flashy in the right ways. The GLS is upright, patrician, and handsome in the right ways. With BMW and Mercedes having the ends covered, an Audi would be neither fish nor fowl if it split the difference.

Then there is the naming scheme. There's nothing special about a "Q9"; it's anonymous because it gets lost in the Q progression--none of which are sufficiently differentiated ["Is that a Q3 or a Q5? I don't know. Maybe it's a Q4 or a Q3.5"].

Give it a name, but not a VWAG-type name.