2025 Audi Q5 (3rd Generation)

This is the all-new third-gen Audi SQ5, and it’s got V6 petrol power again

Audi refreshes its hugely successful mid-sized SUV, gives the SQ5 362 horsies

Sighs, this’ll sell well, won’t it. Meet the brand-new, third-generation Audi SQ5, which in Good News for executive German car platform enthusiasts, is the first Audi SUV to use the Premium Platform Combustion, um, platform. Yay!
And in the freshly updated SQ5, there is plenty of combustion, because Audi has reverted to petrol power again, binning the old V6 TDI and slinging in a 3.0-litre V6 TFSI engine producing a heady 362bhp and 406lb ft of torque.

That’s matched of course, to Audi’s little-known ‘quattro’ four-wheel-drive system and a seven-speed dual clutcher. We won’t know the performance details like acceleration and top speed until later this year but expect it to be ‘very’ and ‘much’.

We do know what it looks like. And it looks… actually really rather good, for an SUV. Purposeful. Sharp. The SQ5’s gloss black ‘singleframe’ grille, huge front air intakes and narrower (very fancy OLED) headlights feel better connected this time around. More cohesive. And definitely a little bit angry about something.

 
All-new Audi Q5 revealed with sharper looks, screen-centric cabin

The third-generation Audi Q5 has been revealed to the world, complete with fresh underpinnings and a highly digitised cabin with more screen real estate than ever.

Following the recently unveiled new-generation Audi A5, the Q5 is the second vehicle to be underpinned by the company’s new Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), which is believed to be Audi’s last internal combustion platform. Air suspension, with adaptive damper control, will be available as an option.

Like its A5 sibling, the combustion versions have Audi’s new MHEV Plus 48-volt mild hybrid system, which allows for a limited amount of purely electric manoeuvring and parking. Its compact electric motor can also momentarily boost power and torque by 18kW and 230Nm.

 
Third-gen Audi Q5 coming to SA end of 2025

Audi has unveiled its 3rd-gen Q5 model, replete with a new platform, a sportier, more distinctive look, mild-hybrid powertrains and a tech-laden cabin. Audi South Africa plans to introduce the newcomer to the local market at the end of 2025.

As is the case with the recently unveiled Audi A5 business-class sedan, the 3rd iteration of Audi’s top-selling model (in terms of the global market, anyway) is based on the Ingolstadt-based marque’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture. The new Audi Q5 will initially be offered with a 48V mild-hybrid turbopetrol and -diesel powertrains, with PHEV derivatives to be added later.

Although the SA line-up has yet to be finalised, it’s bound to feature one or more of the following mild-hybrid (MHEV) powerplants, each of which is mated with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission:

- 150 kW/340 Nm 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbopetrol with front- or all-wheel drive (quattro)
- 150 kW/400 Nm 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel (quattro)
- 270 kW/550 Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbopetrol engine (in the SQ5 quattro flagship)

An “MHEV plus” 48V electrical system supports the combustion engine and reduces CO2 emissions. Its powertrain generator (PTG) can generate up to an additional 18 kW and drive torque of up to 230 Nm, while the system can feed back up to 25 kW of energy into the 1.7 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate hybrid battery under deceleration. The 48V system also powers the electrically driven aircon compressor.

In terms of aesthetics, the Audi Q5 looks more athletic than its predecessor and will be available in basic, advanced and S line exterior executions, with alloy wheel sizes ranging from 17- to 21 inches.

 
New 2025 Audi Q5 now on sale from £49,950

Next generation of Audi's best seller will bridge the gap to it going fully electric in 2033

The new, third-gen Audi Q5 will cost almost twice as much as the Mk1 did at launch in 2008, when first examples hit the road next April.

Orders have opened for Audi's revamped best-seller, which starts from £49,950 for a 2.0-litre turbo mild-hybrid petrol four that sends 201bhp and 251lb ft through the front wheels, and £51,600 for a diesel with match capacity and power; the original car started at around £27k.

Opt for the V6-powered SQ5, which has swapped diesel for petrol and outputs 362bhp – an increase of 20bhp, and that pushes you into Porsche Macan territory, with prices starting at £74,400.

www.autocar.co.uk

New Audi Q5 costs almost twice as much as the original | Autocar

Next generation of Audi's best seller will bridge the gap to it going fully electric in 2033
www.autocar.co.uk www.autocar.co.uk
 
The cheapest new Audi Q5 starts from £49,950, SQ5 from £74k

Plus: PHEV variant to join the line-up in due course

What’s this? A new premium SUV that’ll be released into the world in 2025 that deploys… internal combustion? Naturally, because this is the third-generation Audi Q5, and it sits on something called the ‘Premium Platform Combustion’, which is a platform. For combustion engines.

So what you get come 2025 when this thing actually lands in the real world is a choice of either a 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine Q5, or a 2.0-litre TDI Q5, or a V6-engined SQ5.

Further down the line, we’re promised a plug-in hybrid version of this popular big Audi, though each of the launch spec cars will of course feature mild-hybrid tech in the form of a small battery and something called a ‘powertrain generator’.

This 48V system provides a little power bump, betters efficiency, reduces CO2 emissions and gives you this week’s winning lottery numbers. Also we’re not 100 per cent sure about the whole lottery thing.

 
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