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Archive for the ‘Audi Q4’ Category

Automakers have latched onto and sucked continuously on the fleshy meat that is consumer demand for SUVs, crossovers, and an imaginary segment known as the coupe-SUV. The latter of which is a filled by a small number of SUVs that have manufacturer proclaimed “coupe-like dimensions” while riding on jacked-up, SUV-like suspension. It’s a mishmash of vehicle types, really, but we’ll leave that discussion for another time. The point is, our insatiable love for SUVs have led automakers to believe that the market is going to continue growing almost indefinitely. So much so that Ford believes it’s going to account for more than 45 percent of the auto industry within the next five or seven years. But, Ford isn’t the only one, as we’ve just received word that the Audi Q8 and, surprisingly, the Audi Q4 are about to go into production.

The Audi Q8, which we’ve already seen in concept form more than once, with the Q8 E-tron Concept getting a ton of attention at the Detroit Auto Show and it’s sibling – the Q8 Sport Concept – garnering its fair share of attention from the Geneva International Motor Show. They were obviously big hits, and Audi is wasting no time on the production version – it’s slated to go into production sometime in 2018 (probably early-2018) in Slovakia. The model will be Audi’s range-topping SUV, dethroning the Q7 and increasing Audi’s personal chunk of the Luxury SUV segment. It will be produced alongside the Q7 s and Q7 e-tron.

Then you’ve got this mythical creature known as the Audi Q4. This model has been rumored for years but was finally confirmed back in 2011 when VAG’s design boss confirmed that it and the Q6 were coming. Well, after that the trail went cold for a while, but then we saw the 2014 Audi TT Offroad Concept and the rumors began to fly that this concept was going to be the basis for the Q4. It wasn’t until 2016 that Audi finally got the Q4 name from FCA. It was trademarked six months later, and now we finally hear that it’s set to go into production as a “compact utility vehicle” at BMW’s Hungary plant in 2019.

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Audi’s alphanumeric “Q#” nomenclature is finally complete after the company announced that it had successfully negotiated with Fiat Chrysler over the rights to the Q2 and Q4 names. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler made the announcement, saying that the two sides have reached an agreement that allowed Audi to take ownership of the two names.

Stadler didn’t dive into the specifics of the transaction, but he did hint that Audi had to give up some of its trademarks to FCA in exchange. In the purest sense, it was a trade that both sides agreed on, ending years of Audi’s relentless pursuit in completing its alphanumeric “Q#” lineup.

With the Q2 and Q4 names now in its possession, the German automaker is expected to waste little time putting the two names to use. The Q2, in particular, will be used on a sub-compact crossover that’s being tipped to make its debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show in March. The model will be available in the same choice of engines as the A1 and will use Volkswagen’s MQB platform.

Meanwhile, the Q4 will likely be used on a coupe-like variant of the next-generation Audi Q3. Once it’s released, it would be slotted right smack in the middle of a segment that’s currently inhabited by its two biggest rivals, the BMW X4 and the Mercedes GLE-Class.

As for FCA, there’s no word on what it received from Audi as compensation for letting go of the Q2 and Q4. Back when it those two names were owned by FCA, Q2 was used as the name of its limited slip differential technology while Q4 was the designation for the all-wheel drive variants of the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte.

According to Stadler, no amount of the money was part of the deal so it points to the possibility that this trade could’ve been a simple trademark-for-trademark transaction.

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