Audi is in a pickle right now. Sales for the German Volkswagen subsidiary tanked by 16 percent in America last year due to a variety of factors, and the company doesn’t exactly have a stellar lineup right now that can compete with the rest of the luxury segment. With all of its production overseas, it’s also facing increased pressure from new tariffs implemented by the Trump administration.
In an effort to stop the bleeding in the U.S., the company revealed plans today to introduce a long-rumored model to its lineup: the Q9. Sitting above the Q7 and Q8 in size, the Q9 will be Audi’s first full-size SUV, meant to compete against luxury full-sizers like the Mercedes GLS, BMW X7, and Cadillac Escalade.
The Q9 would be the eighth SUV in Audi’s global lineup, with Qs 2 through 8 already taken (about a decade ago, there was a rumor the company might build a Q1 to complete the series, but it never materialized). But will it be enough to get people to fall back in love with the brand? Or is it too little, too late?
How Did Audi Get Here?
Last year was a year to forget for Audi. It was hit with a double whammy of policy changes that punched a hole through its EV-centric product plans. Unlike Mercedes and BMW, Audi has no local production facilities in the U.S., which meant that tariffs ripped through the company’s bottom line at a rate higher than its competitors. Then, in September, the $7,500 federal tax credit was dissolved, slicing demand for cars like the A6 Sportback e-tron and Q6 e-tron, which were just starting to hit dealerships. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
These pain points affected sales most seriously in the fourth quarter, when Audi reported a drop in deliveries of 36 percent. Things were nearly as bad in the first quarter of 2026, with sales falling 30 percent year over year. A strong gas-powered lineup might’ve made up for some of those disappearing EV sales, but as Thomas pointed out back in January, Audi’s latest combustion-powered car, the A5/S5, isn’t as good as it used to be. Meanwhile, the bigger cars in its lineup are just old as hell. From his article:
[M]uch of the lineup is getting a bit aged. The current A7 and A8 are around eight years old, the current Q7 is a decade old, and the Q8 is seven years old. While the A7 and Q8 have posted five-percent sales gains for the year, all four of these models are down in the fourth quarter.
And it’s not like things are getting any better now that we’re in the second quarter. President Trump recently announced plans to increase tariffs on European-built cars from 15 percent to 25 percent, a move that, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, will cost the brand an additional $519 million. Not great!
The Comeback Plan
Audi says the long-rumored Q9 will arrive this summer, “targeting customers in North America,” according to a press release published today. The company didn’t provide any more details on the car, aside from mentioning a “spacious interior and numerous technological features.” It’s not too hard to imagine what such a vehicle might look like. Perhaps a taller, more squared-off version of the Q7, sized somewhere like a Mercedes GLS to accommodate a roomy third row—just the type of thing American buyers can’t get enough of.
In addition to the Q9, Audi is pushing its new Chinese brand AUDI (with all the letters capitalized), with several new model launches planned to turn around sales in the region, where it lost even more sales in 2025. The company is also going to release a new A2 e-tron for Europe, and an updated Q7 for the global market. In a call with reporters today, the company says it’s cutting 7,500 jobs in Germany as it reduces factory capacity, according to Automotive News.
Whether all of this is enough to turn the brand around has yet to be seen. Absent from any of this news is Audi’s rumored plans to commandeer the new Scout plant in Blythewood, South Carolina, which is currently under construction, to build an SUV of its own and bypass those bothersome tariffs. Right now, those plans are on hold. From Autonews:
To better compete in the U.S., Audi will introduce the Q9 this year, its biggest SUV aimed at winning share from models such as the Mercedes GLS and the Cadillac Escalade. That car will be made in Slovakia and would be affected by higher U.S. duties.
Audi has repeatedly delayed a decision on setting up manufacturing in the U.S., with VW Group CEO Oliver Blume saying the group cannot afford to pay high tariffs and heavily invest in new production capacity at the same time.
Whether the imported Q9 will be able to compete with the locally produced GLS and X7 on features and price is anyone’s guess right now. With the greater VW Group going all in on cost-cutting and consolidation to stay alive, it’s certainly a tall order. Either way, we won’t have to wait long to find out—there are just 46 days until the official start of Summer.
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Just another item to add to the list of things that make me continue to lose interest in the automotive world.
Seconded.
For decades up into the early 2000s, the German Big Three consistently produced some of the most desirable and interesting vehicles on earth/in history.
Then they all lost their way at the same time. Not it’s mostly numerous SUVs with eye-watering price tags, and interior ambient LED lighting, and tons of black plastic inside and out, and tech purely for its own sake.
There’s literally almost nothing that comes to mind in Audi, or Mercedes, or BMWs current product portfolios that I even vaguely desire. Maybe some kind of A3 or 2 series, but even then, they don’t seem like cars to keep for the long run.
It’s sad. 🙁
You can’t get a Q3 for less than 50K. A Mazda CX5 Premium is 38K. What in the world did they expect would happen?
That gap used to be bigger. The CX5 has gone up quite a bit. We bought our 2018 touring 2/ preffered (the 2nd highest trim option) for $25k in 2018.
Remember when Audi made interesting, sporting, vehicles?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
I will never understand America’s Unending Lust For Gigantic SUVs except perhaps as a way for gigantic Americans to haul themselves around.
There is a time and a place. I owned an Armada and a Suburban for about a decade each, when I had 3 kids in their teens. I was constantly hauling them and 2-3 more of their friends to sports practice. I also have a 25 ft boat that we towed to the lake every other weekend in the summer with 3 rows of kids in tow. Thrown in a another trailer to haul the tractor and other yard stuff around.
Now that the kids have grown and live on their own I have now downsized to a GX460 (still have the boat) and a Boxster.
So while I get the hate from people who just simply don’t understand, but I don’t shit on people who live very different lifestyles. Must be a way of thinking that leans in a certain direction……
Your case is very atypical though. Your (presumably) ruralish use case is the commercial, not the reality for most Americans.
Most (80%) of Americans live in urban areas so it’s unlikely hauling boats, tractors and yard stuff is an actual thing they can even do. The average American family size shrank to 3.1 people even as the sales of gigantic SUVs rose so that doesn’t explain it either. Families with 3 teens + friends to haul are the exception, not the norm. Only about a quarter of American families even have kids under 18 living at home.
You live in a tiny bubble if you think that is what 80% of America is like.
Maybe but my “bubble” is based on data:
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/2020-ua-facts.html
As for obesity 40% of US adults as of 2025 are obese which is down from 42% in 2018 but way up from 27% in 1990 which is about the start of the SUV craze:
https://heartlungdoc.com/important-update-on-obesity-trends/
So obesity as a reason for America’s Unending Lust For Gigantic SUVs tracks a lot better than rural living or hauling kids.
“ luxury full-sizers like the Mercedes GLS, BMW X7, and Cadillac Escalade”
Sorry but two of those are not like the other. No non-US automaker makes a “Full Size SUV”. Period stop.
Agreed, the x7 is a tiny piece of shit, designed to piss off its owners. Had one for a week rental, I’ll never look at another BMW in my life.
Yeah, I don’t understand why everybody thinks the X7 is big. We shopped the 3 row market last year and I found the X7, GLS, XC90, and Q7 to all be realistically the same size and consider them to be 6 seater’s.
Now if they could just go back to being the Audi that could do strong, clean, and tightly detailed interiors and exteriors…
If the Audi/AUDI branding decision wasn’t enough to flag that Audi has poor leadership, there’s the announcement of a brand new high-margin U.S. market vehicle that will be built in Slovakia and definitely cost more than its competitors.
They probably need it. The Q7 is a weird size, pinching down toward the back and giving it an uncompetitive amount of space behind the second row, whether you’re using it for cargo or 3rd row occupants.
Personally, I’d want more than RAV4 cargo volume behind the second row if I’m buying a large expensive 3-row crossover.
The Q7 is quite old… 2015 I think? It seemed like a competitive size back then, but now it’s probably at least two feet shorter than competitors like the X7 and GLS, as well as being narrower.
It’s only 4″ shorter than an X7 and 1″ narrower. It’s not that different dimensionally.
So it’s an A8 then?
Isn’t the Q7 already the size of an X7? Just in a more wagon like shape.
Not quite. Dimensionally it’s sort of between an XC90 and the X7. Mainly it just doesn’t have very much cargo or third-row space. Even an X5 has a larger cargo volume rating.
Dimensionally it’s not that dissimilar. It’s just a less boxy shape. Even then the X7 just has more 3rd row legroom, and actually less cargo volume behind the 3rd row.
What if they just added some more rings to their logo?
There are four rings!
Five rings would the the International Olympic Committee and nobody likes the IOC.
Three rings could be mistaken for the holy trinity. Audi is not really giving me any divine vibes lately.
Two rings looks like a marriage invitation.
One ring is just sad, it is the loneliest number.
Make it 8 rings, joining Audi with AUDI.
The 4 rings represent the 4 brands that united to form Auto Union AG: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. Later renamed back to Audi. Interestingly, they merged with NSU in 1969, and could have added a 5th ring, but I’m guessing the combination of the 4 ring logo being long established and the Olympics having a claim on the 5 ring logo led them to not bother with a change.
I used to be a big Audi fan but now there is hardly a single thing in their lineup that I would want. It’s nothing but a collection of also-ran SUVs that are virtually indistinguishable from each other to 90% of the population and play a distant 4th fiddle to MB, BMW and Lexus. About the only way to tell most of them apart, aside from size, is the more expensive ones have bigger wheels and bigger tailpipes.
It’s sad but I have to agree with others who say that Audi has really lost it’s way.
As a current Audi owner, I agree they have lost their way. However, at least Audi and BMW to a lesser extent still puts some unique engines in their performance vehicles that aren’t overstressed turbocharged 4-pots.
Lexus is the sensible but boring choice in that mix.
Also, why would anyone buy a $100k C63 with a 4 cylinder?
Good news, it seems most buyers agree with you since sales have been pretty bad. (In case you missed it, The Autopian covered it recently: https://www.theautopian.com/mercedes-is-finally-replacing-the-four-cylinder-in-the-c63-with-an-engine-thats-nearly-as-boring/)
Audi still sells a surprising number of sedans and wagons, but the interiors, drivetrains, and tech are far enough behind its competitors that it really doesn’t feel worth a $5K savings in MSRP to overlook a similar offering from BMW or Mercedes. And, yes, Audi’s SUVs are hot garbage currently. Only the Q3 is not old, and the new one looks pretty cheap.
The only interesting things to me are the A6/RS6 wagon, the RS3, the A6 e-tron, and the e-tron GT. And I guess the S5, which is one of the few Audis that still has the traditional mechanical AWD system.
So I used to buy Audis back in the 90s. Came across a great deal on a BMW convertible and loved it, so I’m pretty much a BMW buyer now, but recently worked on a co-worker’s mom’s A4 and liked the drive when I had to test drive it. Not enough to buy one, but it was nice.
The way VW group is going I wouldn’t be surprised if this was basically a rebadged Atlas with a nicer interior and more screens.
That’s definitely the smart way to go about it, especially if VW wants to pivot quickly.
Oddly off-putting and aggressive headline to describe a fairly innocuous model introduction.
People have moved castles from Europe to the US. Maybe VW should try doing that with some of their excess German capacity.
Start franchising currywurst stands!
In typical Audi (and VW group) fashion, this is a decent idea that should have been released 5+ years ago. I’ve heard rumors about the Q9 for nearly that long.
ROFL
Audi is cooked.
Here’s how I know, there’s not one Audi product in the drop-off line at school here in north Seattle. XC90’s as far as the eye can see, X7s, R1S, Toyota, Tahoe and Suburbans, LRs, MBs, even a Pacifica!
I for one welcome our future angry jellybean overlord.
I can see how Audi got here, logically, saying they want to have something to compete against the X7 / GLE.
Maybe it’ll show up in neighbourhoods off-lease for people trying to one-up their neighbour’s off-lease Q5/Q7
Clearly people will be interested in the Q9 because it’s two more Q than the Q7.
Can I quote you on that quotient?
Gotta save room to slice the pie thinner. Gotta save room for the Q8.
Feeling bad for the Q3 owners, now that the scale is going up to 9, the prestige is slipping.
You have to ask yourself, “how much more Q could it be” and the answer is none. None more Q.
Can we please have some regulations restricting manufacturers from making more than 4 vehicles over a certain height? This would allow for one compact SUV, one midsized SUV, one full size 3-row crossover or minivan and one full size pickup. That is more than enough.
More places are banning or restricting e-bikes and e-motos for being a “danger” to the public, when SUVs/CUVs/trucks kill thousands of times more people per year. Anything to make sure people are forced to keep spending money. E-bikes are displacing car use by cash-strapped gen Z kids who can’t afford anything more and a chain of industries as well as control-freak Karens in government do not like this at all.
There’s some truth to this, but e-bikers and e-scooter riders do their movement absolutely no favors when they blast down sidewalks and plow through parks at 15-20MPH with little to no regard for the other users of those public spaces or their own blatant disregard for the laws that require those vehicles to remain on the street. Call me a “Karen” all you want, but that is dangerous to me, my dog and my young child, and there is currently virtually no enforcement of rules prohibiting such antisocial behavior. That is the main reason some cities are banning or restricting these vehicles, not some grand conspiracy among Ford, GM and the national movement of associated Karens…
Yes I fully understand that in most American cities, the infrastructure is antagonistic to bike commuting. I am a pedal bike commuter and have been for years. That is no excuse for endangering pedestrians on sidewalks and in parks. If you want to motivate positive change on this topic, engage with movements that advocate for bike lanes, dedicated bike commuter paths, etc. Will be much more effective than bashing the millions of people who just need to get their kids to school in relative safety using the infrastructure currently available to them…
I’m all for e-bikes, scooters etc. Just stay the hell off the sidewalks! Even pedal power bikes should stay off, except for young children.
I ride on the sidewalk because I don’t trust a painted line to stop a car from killing me. However, I slow down and move over for pedestrians so I doubt I’m the kind of person you’re referring to.
I’d be more in favor of a separate bike lane. When you put them on the side of the a regular street it causes problems for the bikes and the cars. The bike problem is debris and trash wind up in the lane. The problem for cars is making right turns across the bike lane, and for bikes that want to make a left turn.
In (southern?) Europe realistically the biggest people go is Q5 / GLC / X3. You do see Q7 / GLE / X5s but they are few and far in between.
A Q9 / GLS / X7 just doesn’t fit.
The US market is way different and the Q9 makes sense here. Most families with 2+ kids opt for an X5/Q7/GCE here unless they go XC90. Even then, those cars are reasonably sized for American roads and parking spaces.
Outside the major cities the US has lots of space. So larger vehicles do well here.
The current price of gasoline has entered the chat.
The buyer of these vehicles doesn’t care about the price of gas. $200 a week is nothing. Source: close family worked at a boarding school for their teenage kids.
Also will the fuel economy be that different from an equivalent-engined Q7?
Yep. My folks have owned several German SUVs over the years, and fuel economy has never been part of the decision process. My dad bought a V8 Cayenne just last month.
Nobody who is shopping for these gives a rats ass about gas prices..
Gas is less than 3% of the average families budget. The average new car buyer makes roughly 50% more than the average household.
There there are the people that buy cars that cost double the average new car price.
Europeans stopped deferring to the Bible for family planning advice quite a while ago. They also don’t carry every single possession they own in their car with them where ever they go all the time.
Where else can you keep your guns that you use to shoot holes in condoms?