GermanyAudi will build a second-generation Q8 after all. Brand chief executive Gernot Döllner told Edmunds that the project had not been approved when he arrived at Audi in 2023, and that the company later reversed that decision.
The positioning does not change. The next Q8 keeps five seats and the sloping coupe roofline, staying the sportier alternative to the Q7 rather than a rival to it. That distinction has held since 2018: the Q7 carries up to seven seats and a squared-off tailgate, the Q8 trades the third row and the boot height for the roofline.
Engines. Edmunds reports that the range is expected to include V6 and V8 petrol engines, among them the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 already fitted to the new SQ9, where it makes 591 hp and 800 Nm. Audi has disclosed nothing about the car’s own hardware, so the split between combustion, mild-hybrid and plug-in versions is unknown.
Timing. Döllner would only say the car is coming “in the near future”. No premiere date has been given, no camouflaged prototypes have been photographed on public roads, and reporting on the project points to a 2028 debut.
Platform. The new Q8 is expected to share its underpinnings and much of its hardware with the third-generation Q7, whose European deliveries start in September 2026. That car is offered in Europe with a 3.0 V6 turbodiesel and 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance at 245 or 299 hp, and in the United States with a 435 hp 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6, with a 600 hp V8 in the SQ7 above it. None of those figures has been confirmed for the Q8.
The current Q8 remains on sale in the meantime, built in Bratislava on the MLB Evo platform and facelifted in 2023, with V6 diesels from 228 hp, a 335 hp petrol V6 and two plug-in hybrids reaching 483 hp.
