Eager to cash in on the luxury SUV/coupe segment currently dominated by rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi has revealed the Q8 concept. Portending a future production Q8 that will come to market in 2018, the Bombay Blue crossover show car portrays the greatest evolution of Audi’s current design language in years, with a gaping maw that makes it look like no other vehicle currently produced by the German brand, as well as frameless windows to give it more of a proper four-door-coupe feel.
Dimensionally, the Q8 concept is very much a chopped Audi Q7. Sitting on a wheelbase just 0.3 inch shorter than that of the Q7, the four-passenger Q8 concept’s 198.0-inch overall length and 67.2-inch height fall short of its three-row counterpart by 1.6 and 1.3 inches, respectively; however, the concept’s broad hips result in an additional 2.9 inches of width compared with the Q7. Audi chose to emphasize the Q8 concept’s breadth by implementing a full-length taillight design and 1980s-Quattro-inspired design cues such as flared fenders at all four wheels. A wide, raked C-pillar and additional intakes atop the concept’s eight-point grille further tie the crossover’s design to that of the classic Audi rally car.