The FUN Has Just Begun! Over 160 Pictures LIVE From The Launch Of The All-New Audi Q7 — FIRST Pics HERE!

Roll it out with extreme price cuts and it will sell. Agent00R's breathless hyperbole aside, the Q7 is not a "very successful" vehicle in terms of sales. Mercedes and BMW do the segment batter and they have much better sales to show for it. The new dowdy Q7 already had a strike against it because of styling, but now with Audi's slogan "Lies in engineering" dealers will have to slash prices and VWAG will have to prop up dealers.

There is just so little visual appeal to the Q7.

I like it, I will not buy it, but I do like it. I don't have any kids to transport. They are doing a good job with technology in the cars and making it appeal to their growing fan base. Despite the critics on this site, Audi continues to grow as a company and break records.

Bring on a new SQ5 or bring over the RSQ3 already so I can have something to be excited about.

Breaking sales records in the USA--for example--is easy when your volume is low and you sell a few extra vehicles.

Nothing Audi or VW can do will ever meet to MDarringer's satisfaction, that's a fact. He considers Audi approaching 200K sales this year from barely 100K sales in 2010 nothing/lowly. This makes them a solid 4th in luxury sales in the US. All of this without giving their cars away. Also factor in their significantly improved reliability record, they'll always be crap to him. The Audi hate runs deep & strong on this site.

Meh! What a drab vehicle.

While I like the video instrument panel that's configurable, the "wall to wall" vent theme is just awful. Audi did this in the old Type 43 Audi 5000/200 1976 to 1983 - http://oppositelock.kinja.com/my-ode-to-the-type-43-audi-5000-turbo-1333094376.

Note to designers everywhere, do not look to the 1970's for design cues. The 1970 era auto design should not be copied, EVER.

Wow, the A8 has barely evolved since that 70's 5000. LOL

I guess I'll repeat my post from the other thread.

I think the XC90 may have stolen the thunder of the Q7. It's better looking both inside and out and, outside of the fancy displays, is just as capable. When you look at and sit in the Volvo, it FEELS like a luxury brand and it FEELS special. Even in its minimalist approach, you FEEL like you bought something you earned. In the Q7, as nicely trimmed as it is, it feels very technical and rather cold. The XC90's interior is like a nicely furnished and designed hotel room that makes you wish it was your own master bedroom. Whereas the Q7 is like a nicely furnished and designed waiting area to the dentist, where its like to look at but you don't really want to stay or come back.

that was supposed to say "nice to look at...."

Like MDarringer correctly states, the Q7 has never been a hot seller for Audi. The question is whether this iteration will make Q7 sales take off. My guess is not.

With respect to the lengthy and techy feature list, my first-hand experience with Audi (my 2015 Q5) left me cold on two fronts:

(1) The Driver Assist features will likely cost a crazy bundle. On the 2015 Q5, it meant first having to step up to the highest trim level package available, and then add on all the optional stuff. For me, this meant I'd have to pay about $8000 more in my Q5. By comparison, Honda offers the same Driver Assist features (e.g., Lane Hold Assist, Lane Change Assist, RADAR Cruise Control) for about $1800. I guess Audi's systems are just waaaay better :-/

(2) While the tech features sound great on paper, their implementation can leave much to be desired. Audi's MMI (Man/Machine Interface), the screen-based, menu and button driven user interface is poorly designed, and is much more a matter of "form over function". It was likely designed by a graphic artist rather than an expert user interface usability team. One example is having to take literally 12 steps to perform a common task (like selecting air vent air flow) rather than 1 or 2 steps using an analog style user interface. This is not an isolated example.


The Q5 has been Audi's breadwinning SUV. Its 2017 model year will include a complete redesign that incorporates Audi's new style direction, seen here in the new Q7, as well and the plethora of techie stuff (adding to the list of things that can break). The ultimate question with respect to all this, is how does it affect Audi's sales and profits? Arguably, if it makes a positive contribution to profits, then it was the right move for Audi.

Peope are forgetting that the Q7 was never designed to be the huge volume selling SUV for Audi. The Q5 plays that role within the Audi lineup.

Audi is going to go on a tear once the new A8, A7, A6, Q6, and flagship Q8 and A9 are released. Each of those models will be complete visual departure from the current models retaining just the basic Audi design themes but otherwise will be completely.

This new Q7 and the new A4 were both finalized design wise before the current head of Audi design Marc Lichte took over. Lichte was appointed to achieve Audi's new design mandate. I'm excited to see how he will depart from Audi's current design themes.

You are incorrect. Whether you want to believe it or not, the Q7 was meant to be a higher-volume seller than the ML/GLE or X5, but it doesn't even come close. Why do I say that? Because the price of entry was previously below either car and, more importantly, Audi added a 3rd row, which would increase its appeal and utility. This wasn't a "specialized" vehicle that would be expected to ssell in low volume.

And it's going on, what, two years now that you're on your "the next so-and-so Audi will be a complete departure..blah blah blah". Well, we're STILL waiting for it....

*^ will be completely different.

While not specialized, it looked just like the Q5, but was bigger and more expensive. A lot more people can afford a Q5 than can afford a Q7. Even those who could afford the Q7 might well have just gotten a Q5 because it looked very similar but was significantly cheaper. This isn't Mercedes-Benz where the S-Class looked far different than the E-Class and so buyers knew the S-Class will be distinguished from the lower model.

The next Audi models will be a complete departure design wise. It's not my fault that Audi wasn't able to promote Lichte in time for him to have oversight of the design of the new Q7 and A4. Fortunately, for Audi, these are only two models. Although the A4 is very popular, Lichte will have full design oversight over all models including the A8, A7, A6, Q6 and flagship Q8 and A9 models. That is a lot of models that are going to be very different and/or completely brand new.

Have you people ever stopped to think WHY the A4 design didn't change much at all from the previous model? It's because the same people who designed the old model designed this current new model.

Nuttie, I'm not sure you even understand what you're saying sometimes. The bottom line is this. Audi did NOT build the Q7 to NOT be a volume seller. It built the Q7 to compete with the ML and X5 with the added utility of a 3rd row of seats, though the X5 eventually offered them as useless add-ons. Same price. Roughly the same size. The REALITY here is that the ML and X5 sold as much, if not MORE than even the Q5, basically leaving the Q7 in their dust. Even the Mercedes GL, which was larger and more expensive than the Q7, blew it away every year.

As far as design, again, do you even hear yourself talk? For the past two years you've been talking about "new design approach", even under the former design leadership. Now you're just rationalizing why every new Audi model looks mundane.

Say what you will about this Q7 and the new A4, but I'm looking forward to Audi's new design strategy more than anything else. We have 6 models that will be fully re-designed featuring some of the most advanced technology and safety features. It will start with the A8 and trickle down to the A7, A6, and over to the Q6. Eventually the flagship Q8 and A9 will join the mix.

I was expecting more from this Q7 re-design as well as the current A4. While this Q7 won't be mistaken with the current one and it's a technology leader, Audi needs to do better and it knows it. The new A4 won't be shaking up the ranks either.

Audi future sales momentum will start with the next A8 and reach full swing once that new design is moved across the Audi lineup.

never thought id like a volvo more than an AUDI !! no question i think the xc90 is the better looking car in and out. xc90 just seems better in every damn way.

Nice interior but just that: "nice"; and a dated/boring exterior.

And then there's Dieselgate...