Stephan Winkelmann’s previous job was CEO of Lamborghini, a position he held successfully for a number of years, and was instrumental in turning the supercar brand into the success story it is now. For example, it was Winkelmann who spearheaded the Urus SUV project. He’s since been promoted to lead Audi’s Quattro division, and not surprisingly, he wants to turn things up a notch there now as well. Car and Driver spoke with the man himself recently, who confirmed that high-performance SUVs will soon be coming to Audi.
Specifically, RS-badged SUVs. "We don’t have a big lineup," Winkelmann explained. "The right cars means having them in segments that are growing, and also segments that are equally distributed in the regions of the world. Therefore a CUV shift is due; we are working on it, and you will see it coming." What could Winkelmann be referring to? Some sources believe both the new Q7 and upcoming Q8 will receive the RS treatment, thus creating direct competition against the likes of the BMW X5 M and X6 M, along with the Mercedes-AMG GLE63. But wouldn’t such Audi RS SUVs present an internal threat to the upcoming Urus, Porsche Cayenne, and perhaps even the Bentley Bentayga, which shares a platform with the Q7?
Yes, and it’ll be interesting to see how Audi positions its new high-performance SUVs so that they’ll be unique from their corporate cousins. Heck, we wouldn’t be surprised to see an RS version of the hot-selling Q5 in the near future. And yes, an RS Q5 would pose a direct challenge to the Porsche Macan Turbo. Game on.
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