Audi's bigger Q9 could reach U.S. by 2026

Spy photographers late last month caught images of what appears to be a new full-size, three-row Audi crossover lapping the famed Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

What would likely be an Audi Q9 looks aimed directly at a lucrative Chinese market. The question is, will it also make it to the U.S.? The answer seems to be yes, though it may take several years.

A spokesman for Audi of America declined to comment on future product. A supplier source, speaking on background, said Audi has canceled a battery-powered eQ9 project in the spring. However, one dealer told Automotive News that a Q9 was in the offing for the U.S. by no later than 2026.

There is likely a case for a Q9 here. Through three quarters this year, sales of Audi's largest crossovers — the two-row Q8 and three-row Q7 — were both up over COVID-ravaged 2020. And luxury brand dealers seem unable to find a ceiling for retail demand for crossovers or the prices consumers are willing to pay for them. If the Q7 has a weak spot with consumers, it is the legroom in the third row.

Spy photographers say the camouflaged prototype looks sized to go head-to-head with the Mercedes-Benz GLS or the BMW X7.

The same eagle-eyed shooters say the camouflage pattern has previously been used on vehicles that were destined solely for China. They also believe that the vehicle is powered by a twin-turbocharged V-6 or V-8, with some form of hybridization.

But time constraints may mean that a Q9 would be long-lived, at least in this form. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann this year committed the premium brand to an aggressive decarbonization timetable, one that will see Audi end development of internal combustion engines by 2026 and end production of vehicles with such powertrains in 2032. His boss, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, laid out an equally ambitious conversion to battery-electric vehicles in July.