Audi Q2 set for Paris debut 15 | 06 | 2012
AUDI MAY WELL be concentrating on the Le Mans 24-Hours this weekend, but the manufacturer is also well advanced with its plans for the Paris Motor Show in the autumn. That's when it will confirm plans for a new entry-level SUV.
The junior SUV — which will be positioned below the Audi Q3 and go head-to-head with the Mini Countryman — is scheduled for launch in 2015.
Expect the — let's call it the Q2 Crossover — to come with raised seating, high-quality interior, smooth exterior styling and a range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
The Q2 will be based on the VW Group’s new transverse-engine MQB platform, the same platform which has just appeared in the third-generation A3. It will also form the core of the new Q3 in 2017.
Though Audi has obviously still to confirm details, it's understood the Q2 will have a unique wheelbase of around 2.5m: this slots it neatly between the A1, at 2470mm, and A3's 2605mm.
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Expect the track widths to be close to those of the Q3 — 1570mm front and 1575mm rear — but they will definitely, says Audi, not be the same. The car Q2 will also be around 200mm longer than the A1, at around 4150mm.
It's expected Audi will preview the Q2 in 'concept form' in Paris in September, and it's likely the company will use a three-door to highlight the car's sporting flavour.
It's expected though that we'll need to wait another three years before the production version of the Q2 appears at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015.
The Q2 will also feature Audi's latest development of stop-start, brake energy recuperation and an optimal shift point indicator. All three will be standard across the line-up. That combination is expected to give the 1.6 TDI Q2 with a combined economy figure of around 70mpg.
Prices? Well it's unreasonable to even guess a price … but we'll do it anyway! We don't think it will be far off £21,000, which would slot it 5k cheaper than the entry-level Q3.
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Jim McGill