U.S. to get diesel and hybrid Q7 SUVs this year

U.S. to get diesel and hybrid Q7 SUVs this year

With all of its rivals currently in their second generation or later, the Audi Q7 is starting to get very long in the tooth and is in desperate need of a makeover.

Not to worry as Audi is hard at work developing a new Q7 luxury SUV, which once again will be based on a common platform shared with the current generation Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne.

With the Volkswagen and Porsche, engineers managed to shed some 400 pounds, mostly via new construction processes, which included increased use of aluminum and in the case of the Cayenne, the removal of the previous generation’s two-speed transfer case.

According to Automobile Magazine, the next-generation Q7, which is expected to launch late next year as a 2013 model, will do even better and shed some 650 pounds. This will reportedly be done by adopting a new aluminum body, as well as smaller engines in line with Audi’s downsizing principle.

Not much else is know about the new Q7 except that it will likely remain slightly bigger than its Touareg and Cayenne siblings. There’s also a strong possibility that a hybrid variant will finally be launched, a vehicle first hinted at back in 2007.

[Automobile Magazine via Autoblog]