Audi has just successfully launched the new Q7, the largest SUV of its range, and next in line – both literally and figuratively speaking – is the smaller Q5, the Mercedes-Benz GLC-sized premium SUV.
Since it’s Audi we’re talking about, the looks of the new Q5 are not really a secret – you just have to take the recently presented Q7, grab one of its corners, hold down the SHIFT key as to maintain proportions and just scale it down a little. It’s not rocket science, as any Audi designer will undoubtedly tell you if you get him drunk enough.
But exterior design is only half the story. Just like the Q7, the future Audi Q5 promises to bring heaps of new technology in the segment, some of which we’ve already seen on the bigger model. Again, similar to the Q7, the medium-sized SUV will also experience a severe diet which sees the future model drop as much as 100 kilograms compared to the current generation – the lower weight should benefit fuel efficiency, but also handling. It will be built on the MLB Evo platform, just like the Q7 and any other upcoming Audi models larger than the A4.
Set to debut mid-2016, the new Audi Q5 will feature more or less (but mostly more) the same front end layout as the Q7 and will even come with optional matrix LED lights – this will soon become something of a leitmotif, the new Q5 making a habit out of borrowing technology from higher class models.
In terms of dynamics, the new Audi Q5 will be offered in both all-wheel drive quattro and front-wheel drive versions. First up, though, will be a plug-in model which fuses electric and petrol power for impressive efficiency numbers and performance figures with an expected electric range of around 45 kilometers (30 miles).
Apart from this, Audi will fit regular four and six-cylinder engines inside the new Q5’s engine bay as well, with power outputs of familiar faces like the 2.0 TDI or 3.0 TDI V6 expected to go up. There are even speculations regarding a possible extension of the successful RS Q3 in Q5’s upper segment, but that remains to be seen.
The interior follows the same recipe as the exterior, so it should bear heavy resemblances to both the new Q7’s as well as the new A4’s. You’ll see the latest generation of the MMI together with the all digital Virtual Cockpit we’ve first seen on the TT. All in all the Audi Q5 will have the modern/techy look the Ingolstadt marque has accustomed us with in the later years.
By the looks of it, the new Audi Q5 is set to be a serious contender for the Mercedes-Benz GLC, even though its angular shapes and cold, metallic interior make it quite a different offer. But if the new Q7 is anything to go by, the Q5 should make quite a decent car when it will finally be launched next year.
