Audi will launch its last new car powered by a combustion engine in 2025, but the Four Rings have already initiated the gradual demise of the ICE. The TT and R8 sports cars are going out of production while the A1 supermini and Q2 subcompact crossover will not live to see a next generation. You can easily tell the Four Rings are focused on EVs by deciding to give the Q7 a second facelift rather than transitioning the luxury SUV to a new-gen model.
Even though this is a highly lucrative segment, Audi has decided instead to update the current model launched all the way back in 2015. Perhaps that’s not all too surprising since the mechanically related 2024 Porsche Cayenne isn’t all-new either, although the facelift is an update to a model launched in 2017, so Zuffenhausen’s luxobarge is not as old as the Q7.
The spy video shot somewhere in Scandinavia depicts a partially camouflaged prototype that doesn’t seem to have all the new bits. Our own spy shots attached here illustrate a different test car with a revamped front fascia featuring redesigned headlights and front grille along with an updated bumper. At the rear, there are stickers on the taillights to conceal the revised look. With this being a facelift, expect the side profile to be carried over, although there might be some new alloy wheel designs.
For reasons beyond our understanding, Audi doesn’t have a direct answer to the larger BMW X7 and Mercedes GLS. The Q7 may offer third-row seating but its two domestic rivals have more room for rearmost passengers. It’s likely too late in the ICE game to stretch the SUV for a Q9 or something to that effect but a true three-row EV is likely a matter of time. After all, Porsche will be launching one around 2026.
