Audi is keeping its forthcoming Q3 baby SUV under wraps - although leaving the lights on probably wasn't a good idea.
The Tiguan-based Q3 is due on sale before the end of next year. It’s loosely based on the Cross Coupé concept that was shown at the Shanghai motor show as long ago as 2007.
But although the bags draped over this test car’s bodywork disguise the detail, the profile does suggest that the show car’s steeply raked tailgate is being kept for production, making the Q3 more of a coupé crossover than a pure mini-SUV.
The new model will slot into Audi’s line-up beneath the Q5 and Q7. It’s around 4.4m long, 1.8m wide and 1.6m high — 20cm shorter and 7cm narrower than the Q5.
The Q3 will be mechanically similar to the Volkswagen Tiguan, although Audi is likely to offer adaptive damping on its model.
It will feature three petrol engines — a 140bhp 1.4, a 180bhp 1.8 and a 210bhp 2.0 — plus two diesels, with 140bhp and 170bhp. A 204bhp twin-turbodiesel is also in the pipeline.
The Q3 will be built at Seat’s Martorell factory near Barcelona — an ironic choice, given that the Spanish VW subsidiary’s own Tiguan-based project, the Tribu, has been postponed indefinitely.
Thanks to: Autocar