New 2025 Audi Q7: third-generation luxury SUV spied for the first time

This is our first look at the next Audi Q7, which could be the last to use an internal combustion engine. The current, second-generation car is expected to give way to this new model in late 2025, although we can already see that the formula for the Q7 won’t change much. 

The Q7 was Audi’s first SUV when it launched in 2006. Audi was pretty late to the segment when you consider the firm’s all-wheel-drive heritage and the fact Volkswagen Group siblings, like the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Toaureg went on sale a couple years prior. Fast forward to 2024 and the second-generation will soon gain an update, not a mid-life facelift (that happened in 2020), but a series of mild tweaks to keep it looking fresh alongside the newly-revised Touareg and the Q7’s coupe-SUV alternative, the Q8. 

The car in these spy pictures represents our first look at the all-new, third-generation Q7 and we can already see the design direction for Audi’s largest SUV (if you discount the Chinese-market Q6). The overall body shape is similar to the current Q7 but the rear window rake looks a little more upright for a taller side profile - possibly a deliberate move to distance the Q7 from the sleeker Q8. At the front we can see a thin upper headlight cluster which incorporates the indicators and a chunkier lower light. The large grille we’ve become accustomed to seeing on Audi SUVs appears wider than the current car’s and the lower grille features a radar sensor in the middle. 

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Down the side of this test car we can see the door handles have been given a sleeker design and the diamond-cut wheels are a new design we may see debut on the upcoming 2024 Audi Q7. The rear features a new light cluster shape for the Q7 with the outer edges flowing further down the bodywork, it’s not clear whether it’ll gain a full-width light bar, but Audi typically has reserved this for its all-electric e-tron models. We can clearly see this test car isn’t one of those with its dual-exit exhaust tips. 

We’re yet to see inside the next Q7 but it should use the latest interior technology from the VW Group (which you’d expect given its position as Audi’s SUV range-topper). We expect a massive 14.5-inch touchscreen coupled with a 10.9-inch display for the passenger and Audi’s latest Virtual Cockpit - essentially the same setup the new Q6 e-tron will use. 

With the VW Group spending big on its new PPE architecture for electric cars - which Audi will make use of with the Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron, the focus may be taken away from developing new platforms for ICE models. With this in mind we could see the new Q7 use a redesigned version of the current car’s MLB Evo architecture. 

We’ll have to wait and see what engine lineup the new Q7 will come with but a selection of petrol and diesel V6s is likely considering Audi previously claimed its final cars using those fuels will launch by 2026. 

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