Next generation Audi Q7 breaks cover

Nine years is a long time for a model update but the popular Q7 has pulled through. Next year Audi will launch the new Q7 with an official unveiling at the Detroit Motor Show less than a month from now, but a first set of details and images have been revealed. And the most prominent figure we can get out of Audi is a massive 325 kg reduction in weight compared to the outgoing model courtesy some ultra high strength steel and aluminium. Considering the new car shares almost identical dimensions, its agility and outright performance is sure to improve drastically.

Just going by the numbers, it sure does. The bread and butter 3.0-litre TDI engine, which will be the engine of choice when it comes to India get a boost in power of 32PS. The V6 oil burner now produces 276PS of power, clocking an o-100kmph time in 6.3 seconds, a whole second faster. All this while improving emissions and fuel economy. Audi says efficiency has gone up by up to 28 percent. 

The petrol mill is the 3.0-litre TFSI block from the S4 with a matching output of 338PS. It adds about 55PS and shaves a full 1.6 seconds off the 100kmph sprint with a time of 6.1 seconds. What’s good to know is Audi had finally announced the diesel plug-in Q7. It is the first of the Volkswagen group cars with a diesel hybrid. The Q7 E-Tron can do 56km in full electric mode and has a combined output of 378PS. In full electric mode, it can do the 0-100kmph sprint in 6.1 seconds, and with the diesel churning, it can do the sprint in 6 seconds flat. There is no news on the 4.2-litre V8 diesel yet.

The Q7’s mechanicals take the cake but the styling certainly is the cherry on top. Smart squarish stance and neat straight lines dominate exterior styling. It doesn’t look as intimidating as its predecessor though, but looks are subjective. On the inside, there’s handsome borrowing from the fresher sedans in the Audi lineup with fewer buttons and two screens - a large popup navigation screen on the centre console and one 12.3 inch screen replace the instrument cluster. Audi will launch the Q7 in Europe next summer and we expect it to make it to our shores before the end of the year.