Audi Q8 prototype spotted in Germany

It looks like that Audi is in the final stages of finalizing its new Audi Q8 sports utility vehicle. While the German premium carmaker has yet to reveal the looks of the production version of the new Audi A8, there have already been quite a number of spy images and videos of the upcoming SUV, albeit in a camouflaged form. Just recently, though, the Audi Q8 was spotted on the road, and this time without any camouflage.

Seeing a near-production version -- or even a prototype model – of the Audi Q8 is a welcome development, considering that fact that the premium carmaker isn’t nice enough to reveal this early the complete appearance of the SUV.
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cidflekken - 8/15/2017 2:30:50 AM

+5 Boost

Look, an Audi XT5! This is the big, fancy SUV coupe that Audi is choosing as a flagship for their SUV lineup?

Vette71 - 8/15/2017 10:16:42 AM

+3 Boost

At least it doesn't look like an overgrown station wagon like the Q7. Not digging that grill with the vertical bars, but the Germans all seem to like that look.
It's like the mouth on Hannibal Lecter's face mask in "Silence of the Lambs".

GermanNut - 8/15/2017 10:38:34 AM

-7 Boost

The Q8 will be a fierce competitor for the likes of BMW's X6, the Range Rover Sport and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. It will combine the groundbreaking technologies of the A8 with the high clearance of an SUV and the fit and finish buyers come to expect of Audi.

Audi's new SUVs have sold very well in the U.S. market including the Q7 and new Q5. The Q5's sales were down due to inventory shortages but is still up YTD.

Audi will take a successful formula it has used on its other SUVs and up the ante with the Q8 to provide more technology as standard and a higher level of luxury.

Firewombat - 8/15/2017 11:08:15 AM

+4 Boost

Can't see how they're selling "very well" if we're in a market where buyers obviously prefer SUVs and Audi is still 4th in sales?

bw5011 - 8/15/2017 1:45:49 PM

-1 Boost

@Firewombat, that is because they don't have 200 different options. They have 3 SUV's. Do you look at the numbers every month when Audi continue to break records...

@jonesharrison, it will not cannibalize anything, because it will be priced above the Q7. If anything, people looking at the Rover, X5M, X6M and GLS AMG will have something different to shop.

Firewombat - 8/15/2017 2:53:27 PM

+4 Boost

They're breaking their own records sport, not anyone else's

cidflekken - 8/15/2017 5:35:33 PM

+2 Boost

The Q5 does very well for itself in its segment. The Q7, not as much.

YTD, the Q7 is behind the X5 by 7k units, the GLE by 10k units, and is slightly ahead of the $20k-more-expensive GLS by 3k units. Considering the Q7 starts a few thousand below the X5 and GLE and has the advantage of a 3rd row, that's not really a positive position to be in.
The Q7 is doing very well against its primary foe, the XC90, by 6k units.

Firewombat - 8/15/2017 11:04:34 AM

+3 Boost

This doesn't look like a SUV coupe in the same way the GLE coupe and X6 do. Whether you like the idea of a SUV coupe or not they are here to stay but I'm a bit confused by the design here as the only thing differentiating this from a regular SUV is the slanting back window, no slopping roofline, maybe the Q8 and Q4 won't be the coupe versions of the regular SUVs then?

cidflekken - 8/15/2017 2:10:05 PM

+4 Boost

Agreed. The GLE Coupe and X6 stand out from the rest because their styling, while quirky and polarizing, is distinctive and grab attention, for good and bad. This vehicle will just disappear in a line of cars at a stoplight.
As much as I'd want to hold judgment until the production version is out, I said the same thing about the prototypes. And if this adopts the monobrow taillight of the A8, then it'll look like a Lincoln from the rear.

hangtime010 - 8/15/2017 2:33:54 PM

+4 Boost

I suppose then Lincoln and Audi are sharing design cues.
Lincoln took the "clam shell" from Audi and now it's Audi's turn with the mono-brow taillight.

MDarringer - 8/15/2017 7:01:17 PM

+2 Boost

Yawn inducing.

mre30 - 8/15/2017 8:40:23 PM

+3 Boost

Funniest thing about the name "Q8" is that all over Europe and the middle east, one of the predominant gas station (petrol station) names is "Q8" which really stands from Kuwait (Q8 is their state-owned oil brand).

Imagine in the US, driving around in an Audi Mobil or an Audi Shell or an Audi Exxon.
I wonder how that name plays in Europe.