Audi debuts Q9 as its new flagship SUV

The Q9 is a big moment for Audi. Literally. As the name suggests, it sits above the Q7 and Q8 at the very top of the range and is Audi’s new flagship. It’s also the first time Audi has used the ‘9’ designation, and with the A8 gone, this three-row giant is now the standard-bearer for the brand.

Here’s some perspective on just how big it is. At 5,309mm, the Q9 stretches 251mm longer than the Q7, and its 3,138mm wheelbase is a full 140mm longer. It is wider and taller too. This isn’t a stretched Q7; it’s a class-size jump that finally gives Audi a genuine rival to the Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7, a fight it has sat out for far too long. The proportions are great, and there’s an air of solidity about it that’s nicely emphasised by details like the massive grille, large wheel arches and chunky door handles, which, thankfully, are not the flush, flip type.

Audi chose the US for the Q9’s global premiere, and understandably so, as this will be its biggest market, accounting for 65 percent of the model’s sales. But the big news for us is that the Q9 is confirmed for India, arriving in the second quarter of 2027, and the even better news is that it will be locally assembled at Skoda-VW’s Aurangabad plant, which should give Audi a useful pricing lever.

Audi Q9 SUV exterior design

A plethora of exterior lighting features for improved safety

The Q9 comes in two trims, Advanced and S line, and the Advanced version’s party piece is its enormous grille with illuminated vertical slats that emphasise the sheer height and depth of the front end. A lit-up 2D version of the four rings sits above, and slim daytime running lamps top a split headlamp arrangement. Lighting, in fact, is the defining theme of this car, and Audi, the brand that pioneered cabin and exterior lighting theatre, is clearly out to reclaim that crown.

The headlights use adaptive-beam digital Matrix LED technology with micro-LED modules that can project warning symbols onto the road surface. The indicators are a genuine highlight: they beam directional arrows onto the tarmac at night. Picture pulling out from behind a truck. Your car is hidden, but the arrow projected on the road warns someone about to swing into your lane that you are there. It’s a clever, real-world safety feature, and I suspect other brands will adopt it in time.

At the rear are curved digital OLED tail-lights, a distinctive signature achieved using ultra-thin glass just 0.1mm thick, with 512 individually controlled segments, joined by a light strip with an illuminated logo. The number plate sits low on the bumper to exaggerate the Q9’s width. Wheels range from 20 to 23 inches, with the S line getting the 22s or 23s, and the largest rims come with acoustic foam inserts to cut tyre roar.

SQ9 gets a different design for the grille, bumpers and alloy wheels

Compared to the standard Q9, the SQ9 gets a sportier front-end design with a revised grille featuring silver L-shaped inserts that give it a more elegant appearance and an ‘S’ badge. The front bumper also features a honeycomb mesh pattern for the air intakes. The SUV rides on a new set of alloy wheels and gets silver trim around the window line and rear quarter glass. At the rear, the overall design remains largely unchanged, but the SQ9 stands apart with a silver-accented bumper and quad exhaust tips, with two outlets on either side.

Audi Q9 SUV interior design and features

A triple-screen setup gives a taste of what could be expected from future Audis

After the dated interiors of the long-in-the-tooth Audis we have back home, the Q9’s cabin is a taste of things to come. The cockpit is a revolution: a curved triple-screen layout with a 12.3-inch driver display, a 12.3-inch passenger screen with its own privacy mode and a 14.5-inch central touchscreen running Android Automotive. It’s all very crisp, very responsive and, crucially, intuitive and user-friendly. And just when physical buttons are making a comeback, most of them have gone in the Q9, though the volume knob survives. The air vents, too, are now adjusted via the screen, the way the Porsche Taycan does it, and that’s a bit of a miss; sometimes you just want to grab a vent and adjust it the old-fashioned way. There’s an overreliance on the screen, to be honest, but the good thing is that the interface is pretty intuitive, easy to read and very responsive. 

Where Audi has really raised its game is materials. Quality here feels a notch above its German rivals, with new wood trims, Dinamica microfibre, Nappa leather and even a wool upholstery option, while glossy piano black has largely made way for matte, textured finishes that won’t collect fingerprints. Nice touches abound: a magnetic wireless phone charger that holds your phone firmly in place, USB-C ports in all three rows and a 22-speaker, 1,360-watt Bang & Olufsen 4D audio system with headrest speakers. ChatGPT is integrated into the voice assistant, too.

The party tricks keep coming. All four doors are power-operated, opening and closing at the touch of a button, with radar sensors to prevent them clouting obstacles; the driver can even shut his door by simply pressing the brake pedal. Then there’s the panoramic roof, the biggest ever fitted to an Audi. It opens, and it uses electrochromatic glass with nine individually switchable segments, so it can go from fully clear to completely dark, doing away with the need for a sunshade. How that copes with brutal Indian summer sun, though, remains to be seen.

The Q9 gets the latest Level 2 ADAS suite. Beyond the usual 360-degree camera, auto emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and automated parking, it debuts Adaptive Driving Assistant Plus, which allows partially automated driving on approved highways at up to 130kph, a first for any Audi. But again, this feature won’t be coming to India.

The three-row SUV is offered as a 7-seater, with 6 seats available at an additional cost

The back seat is where the action is, especially in a market like India. A 7-seater is standard, but the 6-seat configuration with captain’s chairs is the premium pick. These buckets are super comfortable, with power adjustment for travel and backrest angle, massage functions, heating (though no cooling, which the front seats get), and comfort genuinely approaching the front chairs. Power sunshades, a make-or-break feature in this segment, are present, and a huge rear window adds airiness. There’s no Ottoman function, though.

The third row is a proper one, unlike the Q7’s, but to be honest, it’s still not comfy enough for adults. You sit low, knees-up, and while kids will be fine, large adults won’t want to spend a lot of time there. You are pampered, though. The third row gets USB-C ports, dedicated C-pillar vents and heated seats (not of much use in India), and everything is electric, including sliding the middle row for easy access to the rear. Boot space is 280 litres with all rows up, expanding to 850 litres with the third row dropped electrically. There’s no spare tyre, though, just a puncture kit, which, in Indian conditions, is a concern.

SQ9 is offered with a different cabin theme and carbon fibre trims

Compared to the standard Q9’s beige-and-black interior theme, the SQ9 gets a sportier black-and-white cabin. The three-spoke steering wheel features an ‘S’ badge. The wood trim is replaced with carbon fibre elements, and the seats have an ‘S’ embossed on the headrests.

Audi Q9 SUV powertrain options

India-spec model to get a 367hp, 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine only

Globally, the Q9 launches with a variety of powertrains, including a 3.0-litre V6 diesel for Europe. But before you get your hopes up, there’s no diesel for India. We get a sole engine: the 3.0-litre V6 petrol producing 367hp and 550Nm, driving all four wheels through an 8-speed automatic. And no, this is not the twin-turbo motor but Audi’s latest-generation single-turbo V6 with a variable-geometry turbocharger and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that chips in with short bursts of extra shove. The twin-turbo units, a 2.9 V6 petrol for America and the SQ9’s V8, aren’t on the India menu.

Adaptive air suspension is standard across the range, adjustable through 90mm, and the Q9 even offers four-wheel steering that turns the rears by up to 5 degrees for tighter manoeuvring, though that’s not yet confirmed for India. Big composite brake discs, 400mm up front and 350mm at the rear, handle the stopping.

SQ9 packs a 4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine

There’s also the SQ9 with its 591hp 4.0-litre V8 from the RS Q8, producing 591hp and 800Nm, but for now there are no immediate plans to launch it in India. This mill is paired with the same 8-speed Tiptronic transmission as the standard Q9, with power sent to all four wheels. Audi claims the SQ9 has a 0-100kph time of 4 seconds and can reach an electronically limited top speed of 250kph.

So here it is: the Audi Q9, with the firepower to take the fight to Mercedes and BMW at the top of the SUV pyramid. Standout tech, a supremely comfortable cabin and imposing design put Audi right back in the game, and with local assembly sweetening the price, this flagship could be seriously compelling. Game on, Audi.