Audi Q4 gets green light 11 | 04 | 2017
AUDI HAS CONFIRMED its all-new Q4 crossover, based on the Q3, will enter production in 2019. The new model will be built at Audi’s Gyor plant in Hungary alongside the TT. (Related: Audi unveils new 444bhp RS5)
While the company has yet to release more specific details of the Q4 — which it describes as a “sporty, compact utility vehicle”, and will feature a “typical coupe-style silhouette” — will, in essence, be a production version of the TT Offroad concept (pictured) revealed at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show. (Related: Audi reveals TT Offroad Concept)
Audi has also confirmed the new, much larger Q8 SUV flagship, will begin production in Bratislava, Slovakia, next year.
But it’s the more sporty, rakish five-seat Q4 which has captured people’s imagination and is likely to be one of Audi’s topsellers as it goes head-to-head with the likes of the Range Rover Evoque, BMW X2 and Mercedes GLA.
Sitting on the same chassis as the second-generation Q3, the Q4 is likely to be priced around £28,000 when it enters Scottish dealerships in 2019.
Based on the concept first seen in Beijing three years ago, we should expect the Q4 to include a heavily curved roofline. And while the interior will include tech already seen in current Audi models — including a 9.2in touchscreen navigation monitor, inductive smartphone charging and gesture control functions — it’s likely the Q4 will debut a new range of 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
These will be supplemented by further updated versions of the current 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
Audi has already indicated the Q4 range will also feature a plug-in petrol-electric Q4 e-tron model with an electric-only range of up to 31 miles.
It may be coincidence, but we suspect not. Samsung is in the proceeds of establishing a £275 million battery factory in Hungary. The new facility at God, near Budapest, is just 90 minutes from the Gyor site where the new Q4 will be built.
“We will integrate two completely new Q‑models into the existing production network and will thus increase our competitiveness in an extremely important segment,” Prof. Dr. Hubert Waltl, Audi’s Board of Management Member for Production and Logistics, said today.
Revealed: Audi Q6 e-tron set for name change
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/Scotcars
Jim McGill