You’ve probably heard that Audi is going all-electric before its BMW and Mercedes rivals. The Ingolstadt crew says that it won’t introduce any new combustion-engined cars after 2026, but that timeframe still gives it an opportunity to get the all-new Q7 you see here into production before the ICE axe drops.
No, it doesn’t look very new because it’s a mule, which means it’s hiding its fresh floorpan, suspension, and powertrain under a modded version of the current Q7’s body. So it doesn’t give us many clues about how the finished SUV will look, though those little arch extensions required to cover a wider track tell us that the next Q7 will occupy more asphalt than before, and the interior images – though hardly representative of the finished article – do prime us to expect a much larger central touchscreen.
Along with the next version of its Q8 coupe-SUV sister, the Q7 will be powered by a mix of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains, though only the Q7 will continue to offer three-row seating, one of the major advantages the model currently has over the Q8, Volkswagen Touareg, Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne that all use the same MLB Evo platform.
Related: Audi’s Q7 Is So Old It’s Getting A Second Facelift
There’s even a rumor that the Q7 will spawn a bigger Q9 SUV aimed at the Chinese and North American markets, with dealers reporting that they’ve been told to expect one in the future. Sounds logical to us when Jeep has both a Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and the Cadillac Escalade is available in two wheelbases.
While we can’t yet confirm that Q9 story, we do know for certain that Audi will unveil a facelifted version of the existing Q7 to keep the model soldiering on before the new one arrives, probably in 2026. Today’s Q7 actually dates all the way back to 2015 and has already had one mid-life facelift, so the tweaked model that goes on sale in 2024 really will be the last throw of the dice. The all-new Q7 seen here that follows it could end up being a 2027 model year SUV and will last Audi into the early 2030s, when it will finally become an all-electric brand.
