Audi seems to be lastly making ready a rival for the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class.

A prototype for an Audi full-size SUV, which can be referred to as the Q9, has been noticed for the primary time.

Rumors of a possible Q9 have circulated for years and Audi has already filed emblems for the Q9 title. Extra just lately, Audi Australia government Jeff Mannering hinted strongly at the potential for a Q9 in an interview with Automobile Gross sales revealed on Jan. 9. Audi’s U.S. sellers had been additionally instructed a number of years in the past to anticipate a full-size SUV round 2025, which suggests the Q9 will possible arrive as a 2026 mannequin.

The prototype in our spy photographs options the identical break up headlights and grille form seen on current Audi prototypes for upcoming SUVs such because the next-generation Q5 and new Q6 E-Tron electrical car.

2026 Audi Q9 spy photographs – Picture credit score: Baldauf

There is no clear shot of the inside however inside there ought to be three rows supporting seven seats.

The open grille and visual exhaust tip level to the prototype packing an internal-combustion engine, possible in a hybrid configuration. This might match with Audi calling the car the Q9, because the automaker’s newest naming technique requires EVs to make use of a fair quantity of their names and every part else to make use of an odd quantity.

Ultimately, Audi will change to promoting EVs solely. The automaker has already hinted that it’s going to launch its final mannequin with a gasoline engine as quickly as 2026.

Audi could also be seeking to broaden into extra than simply the full-size SUV phase. There are rumors Audi plans to launch a rugged SUV to problem the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Audi might also be making ready to broaden into the minivan phase with an EV primarily based on the Urbansphere idea proven in 2022. The idea, which was designed with the Chinese language market in thoughts, spanned a large 217 inches, or 17 inches longer than the present Q7 midsize SUV.