Audi has confirmed that it will put the Q3 SUV into production in 2011. The new car will be built at a Seat site in Spain, and Audi expects to invest €300m in the car and produce 80,000 units annually.

Audi is producing the Q3? That’s a bold move in the midst of a recession

Yes, but Ingolstadt is hoping that the world will be a better and brighter place by the time the new 4×4 rolls out of Seat’s Martorell plant in 2011 – it’s also the same year we will see the A1.

‘Following in-depth consideration of all relevant factors and an extensive international comparison of various sites, we selected Martorell,’ explained Audi chairman Rupert Stadler. ‘We are counting on this Spanish site’s efficiency, the excellent quality of the production department, and its highly trained staff. We will use the Group’s synergies to sharpen our competitive edge and help protect around 1200 jobs. The decision furthermore safeguards workplaces at other Audi locations.’

But while Audi has confirmed European production, it has postponed a decision over whether to produce the Q3 in the USA.

Just what is the Q3?

Audi describes the car as ‘a coupe-like five-door SUV with seat positions, wheel size, and ground clearance characteristic of a typical SUV’. To you and me it’s a funky 4×4 to sit below the Q5 and take on BMW’s X1.

The Q3 was first previewed to the world in 2007, by the Cross Coupe concept shown at the Shanghai motor show. The production car uses the basic floorpan architecture of the VW Tiguan, and Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system will (of course) be available, though an eco-friendly front-wheel drive version is also thought to be on the cars.

Under the bonnet there will be a pair 2.0-litre TFSI engines, producing 168 and 207bhp, but taking the majority of sales will be the 2.0-litre diesel, available in 138 and 168bhp guises.

The mildly refreshed Audi Q7 had its world premiere today at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show in China. For the 2010MY, Audi’s full-size SUV has received a few minor styling tweaks that include a redesigned front grille, bumpers with new underbody protection and new LED daytime running lamps and taillights while the interior has been updated with a restyled instrument cluster and a new, third generation MMI navigation system. Mechanical changes include the introduction of a new energy recovery system that helps reduce fuel consumption. For more details and a high-resolution image gallery of the Q7 facelift, click here.

Three years after its initial launch, Audi is releasing a facelifted version of its full-size SUV that benefits from mild styling tweaks and more fuel efficient powertrains. Starting from exterior, it will take a trained eye to spot the differences that concern the updated large single frame grille sporting vertical chrome bars, the revised front headlights, the LED front blinkers and rear tail lights, the chunkier door moldings and the newly integrated underbody protection plates in the center section of the front and rear bumper.

Same goes for the Q7′s interior that gains a new selection of colors and materials, a chrome surrounding for the instrument cluster and most importantly, a new, third generation MMI navigation system.

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While Audi has always stated its intention to replace the outgoing RS 4 with a new version based on its much improved new-for-2009 A4, Audi still won’t officially confirm anything about the upcoming hot-rod RS 5 version of its sexy A5/S5 coupe. But we have an unofficial confirmation right here, in the form of one sinister-looking, matte-black and blue RS 5 prototype snapped while testing at Germany’s famed Nϋrburgring racetrack.

Certainly, the color scheme caught our spy’s attention, but the “RS” signature styling elements, such as large angry-looking lower air intakes in front and huge oval exhaust pipes in back, give this particular car’s true identity away. This car also wears the same serious 20-inch wheels that can be found on the RS 6 sedan, while the snug-fitting matte black body wrap conceals its slightly flared fenders, wider track, as well as the actual rear bumper (which likely integrates some sort of a diffuser). Closer inspection of the shots also reveals larger drilled brake rotors and a pair of high-backed Recaro racing seats inside. It is uncertain if we’ll even see the RS 5 on our shores, but if so, U.S.-bound versions would likely come equipped with the S5’s more conventional seats that already meet U.S. safety regs. Read more »

At the 2009 Geneva Motor Show that runs from March 5th to 15th, Audi pulled the covers off the most potent version of the TT, the RS which revives the spirit of the Audi quattro coupes of the 1980s with its 340-horsepower five-cylinder turbocharged engine. Available to order in Europe -but unfortunately, not in the States- in Coupe and Roadster forms from late March, Audi’s new high performance sports cars will reach their first customers this summer.

The modern-day successor to the 200HP-plus quattro coupes of the Eighties gets a turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine derived from the U.S.-market Jetta that develops 340-horsepower and 450 Nm (331.90 lb.-ft.) of torque. Power is channeled to all four wheels through a close ratio six-speed manual gearbox.

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