Autoblog

The small luxury crossover is quickly becoming en vogue, with the success of the X3, the new LR2, and the RDX helping their respective companies add sales while bolstering their bottom lines. With its grandios expansion plans over the next few years, Audi can't be held out of this burgeoning luxury 'ute market for long, and it's preparing the Q5 to add more sales to their expanding portfolio.

Our spy photography friend Hans Lehmann snapped some pics of the Q5 in action, and the basic form of the forthcoming ute is shown quite well, and the little utility vehicle doesn't appear to have the same shape as the recently unveiled Cross Coupe Quattro.The Q5 will be underpinned by the A5 platform, which means it will have the flexibility to have several powertrains from which to choose, including the FSI 2.0L turbo, 3.2L inline six, and even a 4.2L V8. Diesel options will be available in Europe and we can all dream that they'll be available in the States as well.

Other options for the Q5 include hill descent control and air suspension, but due to the small size of the A5 platform a third row doesn't seem plausible. Audi has a goal to reach 1.5 million annual sales by 2015, and we think the Q5 will go a long way towards that goal.

[Source: WorldCarFans]