Just when you thought Audi couldn’t possibly add another SUV to its range, the German car-maker reveals the all-new Audi Q5 Sportback.
Arriving in Australia later in 2021, the additional mid-size luxury SUV is a style-focussed take on the popular Audi Q5, delivering fresh visuals including a svelte, rakish rear-end design.
Coupe-like SUVs are becoming increasingly important to both luxury and mainstream vehicle brands, and Audi predicts the Sportback will account for one in three Q5 sales overall.
Designed to compete against the likes of the BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, the new model will be offered with a range of turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines initially.
Plug-in hybrid and turbo-diesel V6 models (including the 255kW SQ5 Sportback) will follow in due course, and rumours of a fire-breathing, Porsche-powered Audi RS Q5 Sportback range-topper also refuse to go away.
But as with the Q3 Sportback and e-tron Sportback, the unique selling point of Audi’s ninth SUV models will be its sleek design, and in particular its fancy Matrix LED headlights and interactive OLED tail-lights.
The latter were shown on the regular Audi Q5 as a world-first earlier in 2020, and feature some clever tech including the ability to ‘warn’ tailgaters if they get too close.