It was three years ago that Audi released the enormous Q7 and jumped into the SUV market. However, Audi’s been having some difficulty competing with BMW’s X5 and Mercedes-Benz’s GL, mainly because Americans hardly consider Audi when it comes to the luxury segment, and because the Q7 is downright beastly and unappealing.
Last year Audi decided to get a little sensible with the release of the smaller Audi Q5. Not a bad decision seeing as the compact pocket-size SUV segment is considered one of the fastest growing markets in the automotive industry. BMW, which has been competing in the segment since 2003, has done its best to beat the competition to the market and set the standard with the X3. However, shoppers now have a choice between at least 5 compact luxury SUVs in addition to the X3, and we feel it’s safe to say that some of them are better alternatives than the Munich automaker’s compact sports utility, which has yet to see a major transformation since its inception. Acura now offers the RDX, Volvo has the XC60 and Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti offer the GLK and the EX35 respectively. So how does the Q5 stand-up to the competition?
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