Sleek new Audi Q3 Sportback to be revealed this year

Here are some new spy pictures of the Audi Q3 Sportback, formerly known as the Q4. The coupe-SUV will be revealed this year, and these images from northern Sweden prove its well in schedule.

Audi exterior design boss Andreas Mindt said that the model was “a bit more than a coupe version of the Q3, to my eyes a lot more”. He confirmed the designers had finished the styling last year, and production will take place at Audi's plant in Győr, Hungary. The Q3 Sportback will be part of a growing line-up of stylised SUVs, spearheaded by the electric Q6 and the plush Q8, and is confirmed by Audi to take a coupe-like profile, albeit on a high-riding SUV body. The rakish five-seater has been conceived to compete against the upcoming BMW X2, Range Rover Evoque and Mercedes-Benz GLA.

The new model will sit on the same MQB underpinnings as the second-generation Q3. It is scheduled to follow the Q6 and Q8 into showrooms in 2019 at a price expected to start about 32,000 Euros. 

Plans for the Q3 Sportback (or Q4 at that time) were originally revealed by Audi in the form of the TT Offroad concept, which first appeared at the Beijing motor show in 2014. As with that car, the design of the production model is set to include a heavily curved roofline and a liftback-style tailgate.

Inside, the Q3 Sportback is set to benefit from a range of developments already under way at Audi and parent company Volkswagen for inclusion the next generation of MQB-based models. These include full-HD instrument displays, gesture control functions, a 9.2-inch touchscreen navigation monitor, inductive smartphone charging and the latest connectivity features.

Among the powertrains earmarked for the Q3 Sportback is the latest generation of four-cylinder petrol and diesel units that have a common 1.5-litre capacity. They will be joined by updated versions of today’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, as well as an all-new 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol unit with up to 400bhp in a range-topping RS model.

The new Q3 Sportback line-up will also feature a plug-in petrol-electric e-tron model with an electric-only range of up to 50 kilometres, as prescribed by China’s green vehicle regulations.