Audi India has confirmed the launch of the Q7 facelift for January. The Audi Q7 has been missing from the German carmaker’s India portfolio ever since it was discontinued at the onset of the BS6 emission norms in April 2020. The Q7 will now make a comeback with revised exterior and interior styling, plenty more features and in a petrol-only avatar.
- Biggest highlight of the Q7 facelift will be its heavily updated interiors
- Will be powered by a 340hp, 3.0-litre petrol engine
- Rivals the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLE and BMW X5
Audi Q7 facelift: exterior updates
The mid-life update on the Q7 was globally rolled out in June 2019, bringing the exterior and interior design more in-line with newer Audi SUVs. And while the estate-like look of the pre-facelift model hasn’t changed much, the updates on the new Q7 give it a lot more character and aggression.
Styling updates on the Q7 facelift include a larger, octagonal single-frame grille up front, flanked by sleeker Matrix LED headlamps with new LED DRL signatures. It also gets a much sportier looking bumper with large air dams on either side, L-shaped air splitter and beefier cladding. At the rear, the Q7 gets a chrome strip that runs between newly designed tail-lights, making the SUV look a bit wider. It also gets a revised rear bumper. There’s also beefier body cladding along the sides and it rides on a set of newly designed alloy wheels.
Audi Q7 facelift: interior updates
The updates to Q7's interior are more comprehensive. There's a completely new dashboard with Audi’s twin-touchscreen MMI infotainment system, similar to the larger Audi Q8. It replaces the single, free-standing screen from the pre-facelift model.
The infotainment system comprises a main screen of 10.1 inches and a smaller 8.6-inch screen for the climate controls. It also comes with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that serves as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit. Interestingly, the Q7 was the model that first debuted the Virtual Cockpit system, and now it has moved up to the second-generation screen. With far fewer buttons, the cabin has a sense of minimalism and looks extremely techy. It’s also garnished with piano black, chrome and brushed aluminium highlights.
Globally, the new Q7 is offered with features such as a panoramic sunroof, four-zone climate control, a Bang and Olufsen sound system, an electric tailgate and an optional head-up display. The same could be offered on the Q7 in India as well.
The Q7 will continue to be offered with seven seats. A dreaded problem of the pre-facelift was that the full-size spare tyre came secured to one of the seats in the third-row as there was no space under the boot floor, rendering the seat useless. Audi India was previously keen in resolving this problem with a collapsible space saver tyre, which finally could be addressed with the facelifted model.
Audi Q7 facelift: engine details
Under the hood, the Q7 facelift will likely be powered by a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine that produces 340hp and 500Nm of peak torque. The engine comes mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox, driving all four wheels via Audi’s Quattro AWD system. The engine even gets a 48V mild-hybrid electrical system which allows coasting for up to 40sec with the engine switched off. This engine is also offered on the Q8 and A8 in India. The pre-facelift Q7 was also offered with a 252hp, 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine in India, and the facelift too could be available with the same. Audi already offers a 2.0-litre petrol engine on the A6 in India, and it remains a possibility on the Q7 as well.
Globally, the Q7 is also available with a couple of diesel engines, and while the pre-facelift model was also offered with diesel engines in India, the new Q7 will be sold only with petrol engines, adhering to Audi’s petrol-only product portfolio for the country.
It's worth noting that this generation of the Q7 has been around since 2015, and is currently one of Audi’s oldest models in India alongside the current A4.
When launched, the new Audi Q7 will continue its rivalry with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLE, BMW X5 and the Volvo XC90. The Q7, being a proper seven-seater SUV, will have an upper hand over the likes of Mercedes GLE and BMW X5, which are only 5-seater SUVs.
What are your thoughts on the Audi Q7 facelift that’s bound for India? Let us know in the comments below.
Also See:
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