The first-generation Audi Q5 was a great success, and now the automaker has decided to refresh the model for 2018. The crossover will hit the U.S. market soon, and the company has revealed the price of the vehicle and its SQ5 high-performance sibling. The starting price is increased a bit since the new models feature new equipment and better overall performance. The next-generation Q5 will have a turbocharged 2.0-litre inline-four and AWD as standard and will cost $42,474, whereas the SQ5 will be equipped with a V6 engine and will be priced at $55,275. The outgoing Q5 base variant costs $625 less, while the 2017 SQ5 is $1,025 less expensive than the new one.
Three trim levels are offered: Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige. When it comes to standard equipment, the base Premium model features only a backup camera, automatic climate control and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while the stuff like a sunroof, proximity key, and navigation are optional. The Premium Plus Q5 costs $4,000 more and includes a panoramic sunroof, blind-spot monitoring and LED headlights.
If you want to own the Q5 Prestige which has Audi’s virtual cockpit TFT instrumental cluster, a head-up display, and a 360-degree camera system, you will have to cash out another $5,300. The adaptive damping system which was included in the previous Q5 now costs an additional $1,000 and is offered only with the Prestige trim.
Audi has increased the price and performance of the SQ5 by equipping it with an updated chassis and a turbocharged 3.0-litre V-6 engine capable of producing 354 hp. Two trim levels are available here: Premium Plus ($55,275) and Prestige ($59,475), while the S Sport package ($3,000) and the Cold Weather package ($500) are optional.
The vehicle’s main competitors are BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC that have a similar price. The difference in cost between the 2018 Q5 and those two 2017 models that feature a turbo four-cylinder engine and AWD is only few hundred dollars.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG-fettled GLC43 4MATIC that has a six-cylinder unit costs $550 more that the Audi, whereas the BMW X3 xDrive35i equipped with a six-cylinder engine is priced at $48,945 which is far less than its competitors, although the optional $2,700 M Sport and $1,400 Dynamic Handing packages offer the same performance upgrades.
We still do not know when the next-generation 2018 Audi Q5 and SQ5 will hit the market, but Audi reported that we should expect them this spring.
