Audi drops hints about Q9 SUV

Audi is on the march towards its target of having 60 models on the market by 2020, and it's looking like a large part of that expansion will be in SUV segments, with CEO Rupert Stadler sketching out plans for a larger SUV.

Likely to be called the Q9 if a four-door -- or Q8 if a two-door -- the flagship SUV plans are on the table, but have not yet been given the go-ahead for production, according to CAR magazine in the UK. He added that if the Q9/Q8 hits production, it will include a plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

The SUV range-topper would be another gap Audi would plug in the SUV field, where their current Q3, Q5 and Q7 are expected to be joined by a Q1 at the small end of the field, and possibly two-door Q2, Q4 -- possibly based on the TT Offroad concept unveiled at New York motor show -- and Q6 over the next few years. "We want to expand the SUV side of the business," Stadler is cited as saying at Beijing motor show. "By 2020, our Q-models will account for over 45 percent of sales."

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However he said the model expansion in the car segments would not include the sub-A1 city car that rumoured to be in the process of development on the platform from the Volkswagen Up -- which was recently dropped from the Australian line-up.

"There is no need for a car [below the A1]," Stadler said. "We are quite happy with A1. It sells 120,000 units, and has a high degree of equipment and accessories, so [profit margins] are quite good."

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott