SPY PICS: Cue Audi Q3

The second generation of Audi Q3 is undergoing final testing ahead of its global launch next year.

Moving to the modular MQB platform that also underpins A3 and the TT sports car, the Q3 will arrive in the market leaner and more frugal than the current model. As we reported in June, the new Q3 will feature styling that's in line with the current corporate look, and the interior will be given a good going-over, adopting contemporary ergonomic thinking at Ingolstadt – not least of all Audi's Virtual Cockpit functionality.

Variants will range from plug-in hybrid and even battery-electric, we're told, to the rampaging, turbocharged five-cylinder RS Q3. The plug-in 'e-tron' Q3 is expected to follow launch of the mainstream range by about 12 months, and the internal-combustion engine will be a 1.4-litre TFSI engine, like the one powering the A3 e-tron. Audi is anticipated to draw on parent company Volkswagen's e-Golf for the battery-electric version of the Q3.

While the new Q3 will remain in the same ballpark as the existing model for external dimensions, there will be incremental stretching here and there, with the wheelbase set to grow 50mm and overall length and width expanding by 60mm for the former and 50mm latter. Adding length and width is expected to result in better rear-seat accommodation and a larger boot.