The coupe-styled SUV trend is about to land at Audi, having already touched vehicles of other luxury makes, including the BMW X6, Acura ZDX, and Land Rover Evoque. It’s rumored that the new vehicle will, predictably, be called the Q6, and slot between the Q5 and Q7 to eventually do battle directly with the X6 of archrival BMW. A test mule of that upcoming sporty SUV may have been caught in disguise, as these shots from our spy photographer show an Audi Q5 with some rather suspicious features.


The first thing you’ll notice is the extra sheet metal between the front and rear doors, indicating this vehicle has been stretched significantly. Overall, the car looks squatter than your average Audi SUV, despite the tremendous gap between the wheels and fenders. A production Q6 will likely sit lower and feature a wider track than its Q-range stable mates, similar to BMW’s treatment of the X6. Based on a report we received in March, the Q6 could be based on the larger Q7’s platform rather than the Q5’s, as this test mule would have you believe.

This prototype doesn’t tell us much about the Q6’s styling, but expect a raked roofline and a generally sleeker shape compared to Audi’s more conventional SUVs. The Q6 will have seating for five, and most likely share V-6 and V-8 engines with the rest of Audi’s SUV lineup. As we reported in March, we also expect a variant of the hybrid drivetrain used on this Audi’s corporate cousins, the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg, to land in the Q6.