Is there room in the Audi range for another Q-branded crossover type thing? Go on then, just a small one...
Confirmed today, the all-new Audi Q1 will take all that we seemingly hold so dear about the Q7, Q5 and Q3 and offer them in a shrunken A1-based form. Glamour magazine in an SUV context, if we're to make sweeping assumptions about the audience being targeted here. After all, what could be wrong about a supermini-based crossover with jacked up ride height and faux-by-faux pretentions? (The answer, in case you'd forgotten, is Ford Fusion.)
Cynicism aside for a moment there is potential here. Think an Audi-branded premium Panda 4x4 type thing and you might have a recipe for a bit of fun. Certainly the sketch looks pretty cool, but then it probably did for the Q3 too and what a generic lump that turned out to be. And can you really translate Q7-type high street intimidation into a supermini sized car? You can be sure they'll give it a go. No wonder either - according to the press release announcing the car - due on sale in 2016 - 28 per cent of Audis sold this year will be Q-models and this is expected to increase to 35 per cent by 2020. With an expected end-of-year total run of 230,000, the Q5 is the real money spinner of the family but having an entry-level Q1 to snap up first-time car buyers while they're young and impressionable is probably a smart tactic.