Spied! 2024 Audi Q5 and Audi A5 spotted testing on Melbourne streets! Volvo XC60 and BMW 3 Series rivals gearing up for imminent reveals

It's not unusual for carmakers to test their vehicles in Australia before being launched - or even revealed - globally.

Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Toyota have all done it, Holden did before it closed and Ford still has a significant engineering and testing program in Victoria.

But now another international automotive giant has been spotted testing future models Down Under - and that is Audi.

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Your correspondent was enjoying a refreshing beverage with friends at a bar in Melbourne's CBD on Friday night when a pair of left-hand-drive camouflaged cars drove slowly past on Bourke Street. Traffic was heavy so I had time to dive out of my chair as soon as I saw them and take a couple of snaps.

They did not hang around long, however, so I only caught the rear of the two models.

After a bit of digging using the New South Wales government licence plate checker, it turns out that the model that looks more like an SUV is a test mule of the next-generation Audi Q5.

The lower-riding car is registered as an Audi A5 station wagon, according to the search.

It turns out that the model that looks more like an SUV is a test mule of the next-generation Audi Q5.

If you're thinking to yourself, ‘wait, Audi doesn't make an A5 station wagon.' You're right. But they are about to.

The German giant is changing its nomenclature so that all even numbers will be electric vehicles, while odd numbers continue as internal combustion models, for now. So the next-generation A4 mid-size sedan and wagon will become the A5, for example.

While Audi Australia would not confirm what the models were, a spokesperson did reveal the reason the vehicles are in Australia.

“The vehicles you have seen are undergoing extensive local testing for future vehicle platforms and driver assistance technologies. We are unable to specify models or model naming at this time.”

The lower-riding car is registered as an Audi A5 station wagon, according to the search.

This explains why the two cars were in heavy Friday night city traffic. They could well have been doing calibration work on driver assist systems like traffic jam stop and go, which is part of the adaptive cruise system.

Both cars had tailpipes, suggesting that they are ICE models, or at least plug-in hybrids.

As reported by CarsGuide, the next-generation Audi Q5 will be significant as it will be the final ICE Q5 before Audi switches over to launching battery electric vehicles only from 2026 on.

The latest intel is that the new Q5 will be revealed at some point in 2024 and land in Australia in 2025.

The current model Q5 went on sale in Australia in 2017 and has been a strong seller for Audi.

It is expected to be slightly larger than the current model and should once again be offered in SUV and Sportback coupe-SUV body style as well.

The current model went on sale in Australia in 2017 and has been a strong seller for Audi. Aside from the dominant Tesla Model Y, the Q5 is the second best-selling premium mid-size SUV in Australia so far this year, with 3880 units sold, but it trails the Lexus NX on 6369 units.

The current A4 has been around since 2016 and is expected to be revealed sooner than the Q5. It could make it to Australia before the end of 2024 with that timing.

So the next-generation A4 mid-size sedan and wagon will become the A5, for example.

The A5 Sportback is expected to take the role of the sedan in the new generation, but the wagon - or Avant in Audi speak - will live on. Sporty S and RS versions are likely to live on for the new model too.

Keep an eye on CarsGuide.com.au for more info on these two important models as it comes to hand.