Audi has revealed the new-generation of its biggest-selling model, the Q5 mid-sized SUV ahead of its Australian arrival.
The new Q5 brings a new design, power plants and technology that should have BMW’s X3 and Mercedes-Benz's GLC doing nervous double takes.
The third-generation Q5 will arrive almost eight years after the current model went on sale and this will be the first SUV in Audi’s line-up to be based on what Audi calls the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), which its sedan sibling, the A5, already uses.
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The new Q5 uses a choice of three combustion engines with mild hybrid assistance.
In Europe the Q5 will be available with an entry level 150kW/340Nm four-cylinder turbo-petrol that uses 6.4L/100km; a four-cylinder 150kW/400Nm turbo-diesel uses 5.9L/100km; and at the top there's a V6 petrol in the sporty SQ5 that makes 270kW/550Nm and drinks 8.0L/100km.
The new Q5 looks completely different and totally the same as it did in so many ways. Yes, unlike many brands that will try a whole new approach to the styling of a model and risk spooking buyers and fans, the new Q5 is instantly recognisable as Audi’s mid-size SUV, but look a bit closer and you’ll see a striking differences.
The so-called ‘tornado line’ is gone. This defining characteristic of the last gen Q5 was a twisting crease in the metal work that ran from the rear to the front of the vehicle is nowhere to be seen. But the ‘pressed-in’ wheel arches remain, and redesign but similarly sleek headlights and so too the trapezoidal grille which now looks beefier and more menacing flanked by the large air intakes joined through a more sporty lower bumper.
The rear of the new Q5 is vastly different with narrow horizontal tail lights, which extend into the tailgate and are joined by an LED strip.
Inside, the cabin has been overhauled and the once busy-with-buttons cockpit is now filled with large OLED screens (a 14.5-inch central display and an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster) and clean surfaces.
Quilted leather upholstery abounds and premium materials are used throughout, as expected.
"The Audi Q5 has been our most successful and most important SUV model in the midsize class for more than 15 years. The new edition is a further development of its proven characteristics” said Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG Gernot Döllner.
“As the second model in our new generation of highly efficient combustion engines, it marks the next important step in the rejuvenation of our portfolio. I am certain that the new Audi Q5, as a sporty all-rounder with a dynamic SUV design, will continue its success story."
The new generation will arrive in Europe in the first quarter of 2025. CarsGuide has asked Audi Australia when we will see the new SUV locally but the company has yet to respond.
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