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Audi Says New Q8 Coupe SUV Is On The Way

Published

3 weeks ago

August 5, 2026

Ehijie

Despite online criticism, coupe-styled SUVs have become a highly profitable market segment for both luxury and mainstream automakers since the 2007 BMW X6.

Audi has officially confirmed a second-generation Q8. Despite limited recent news, the SUV remains a key part of the brand’s lineup as a standalone rival to the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe.

Upon assuming the role of CEO in September 2023, Gernot Döllner noted that Audi had not yet reached a definitive decision regarding the future of the Q8. In an interview with Edmunds, the CEO confirmed that under his leadership, the company has officially green-lit the development of a second-generation model, stating, “When I joined Audi, to my surprise, there was no decision for a successor, but we changed that.”

Although there haven’t been any spy shots of the new Q8, the #1 at Audi says it’s coming out in the “nearer future”. That tells us it’ll be released before the end of the decade, but we don’t expect to see it until 2028 at the earliest. It’s unclear whether it will have the new design language pioneered by the Concept C and Nuvolari, as a future model’s styling is locked in years before it actually hits the market.

The new Q8 will likely remain a rakish, more affordable alternative to the Porsche Cayenne Coupe and Lamborghini Urus. Expected to be built in Bratislava, it will continue to share the MLB Evo platform with its siblings.

Given Audi’s Q7 and Q9 performance variants, a new V8-powered SQ8 is likely. An RS Q8 remains possible, leveraging technical foundations from the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus.