Audi Q2 facelift revealed

It must be mid-life update season because there are dozens of facelifted cars coming out of the woodwork at the moment – and you can now add the Audi Q2 to the list.

Coming to Australia in mid-2021, the facelifted Audi Q2 gets a sharper new look, adaptive cruise control for the first time and a new 1.5-litre engine option to take on compact luxury SUVs like the BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA.

It’s not clear if the new 110kW/250Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine will be offered here, or whether Audi Australia will stick with the 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre and 140kW/320Nm 2.0-litre powerplants it currently offers in the Q2.

The new 1.5-litre engine is slightly more efficient than the current 1.4 unit, using as little as 5.1L/100km thanks to a cylinder deactivation system that switches off two cylinders under light loads.

In Europe, the Audi Q2’s new four-banger is offered with six-speed manual and seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic transmissions, but will almost certainly be auto-only in Australia.

Audi says four other engines, including petrol and diesel, will be announced for the upgraded Q2 in due course.

In terms of the exterior design, Audi has stretched the Q2’s length by a few millimeters thanks to new and more angular front and rear bumpers. The front-end also gets a restyled grille and the lower apron features sportier air inlets.

The rear-end design features more complex visuals too, with more geometric shapes adding futuristic visuals. The LED tail-light clusters are unchanged but five new colours have been added - Apple Green Arrow Gray, Manhattan Gray, Navarra Blue, and Turbo Blue.

Akin to one of its customisable rivals, the MINI Countryman, owners can tweak the exterior design via black, grey or body-colour lower cladding and black, grey or silver C-pillars.

LED headlights are now standard on all models, while adaptive cruise control and LED Matrix headlights are options in Europe.

Apart from the gear shifter, there aren’t many changes in the cabin. The Audi Q2 has not yet switched to touchscreen-only MMI infotainment interfaces like larger, more expensive Audi models, sticking with its dial-controlled interface.

It also continues to offer a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel (virtual cockpit in Audi-speak) and an 8.3-inch infotainment screen.

Currently priced between $41,950 and $49,400 in Australia, the Audi Q2 is the most affordable SUV in the German prestige brand’s portfolio, but it remains to be seen if equipment upgrades will see prices rise.

Audi Australia released a statement reading: “Further information on the model line-up, pricing and specification details will be announced closer to launch.”

It’s not clear if/when the hotter (221kW/400Nm) Audi SQ2 we drove in Europe last October will come Down Under, let alone a bahn-storming Audi RS Q2 to top the the German brand’s compact SUV range.