Sometimes big isn’t big enough. Audi is working hard behind the scenes on an SUV that surpasses the Q7 in terms of size. This new set of spy plates shows the possibly Audi Q9 behemoth in action as a polar bear in the desert on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
With its length of 5.05 meters, the Q7 is currently the largest SUV that Audi has in the range. Although the Q7 is therefore larger than the SUVs of the Volkswagen Group with which it shares its platform, there is apparently always a demand for more centimeters in SUV land. This new set of spy photos shows a wattle of a new SUV from Audi, but it is still not entirely clear what exactly Audi is testing here.
On the one hand, it is possible that Audi is testing an SUV that will get a place on the status ladder even above the Q7, a car that should be able to compete with behemoths such as the 5.15 meter long BMW X7 and the 5.21 meter long BMW. GLS from Mercedes-Benz. In that case, it would be the Q9, a car whose arrival has been speculated for years. Another possibility is that we see a car that is larger than the Q7, but not directly positioned as its superior.
Volkswagen Teramont (China)
Although the SUV in these photos clearly has an Audi front, the rest of the design owes us a lot of credit to the Volkswagen Atlas, the SUV called Teramont in China. The Atlas/Teramont twin is larger than Q7 brother Touareg, but in the United States does not rank above that model in terms of price. Where the Touareg, like the Q7, are on the MLBevo platform, the Atlas and Teramont use the cheaper MQB base. If the car in these photos becomes an Audi extended variant of the Atlas/Teramont, it is unlikely that the brand will position that SUV above the Q7 in Europe and the United States. The car in the photos also wears a camouflage jacket that Audi normally does not use on prototypes of models intended for the European market. Time will tell.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl