Audi’s Next SUV Could Be an Off-Roader Based on the Scout Traveler
Audi is reportedly looking to one of its corporate cousins for help shaking things up.
The German luxury marque is said to be working on a large off-road SUV aimed primarily at the U.S. market, according to a report from Automotive News’s German publication Automobilwoche. The same article suggests that the all-new vehicle could also share a platform with the reborn brand Scout Motors’s upcoming hybrids.
Audi has been building and selling SUVs since 2007, when the Q7 (pictured above) made its debut. Despite many of these vehicles featuring the automaker’s trademark Quattro all-wheel drive system, none have been specifically developed with off-roading in mind. But that could be about to change.
The Scout Terra truck and Traveler SUV
Scout Motors
Automobilewoche reports that anonymous sources “familiar with the matter” say that the company is at work on a large SUV that will be equally suited to driving on- or off-road. The model, should it actually see release, will rival two of the more popular luxury off-roaders on the market, the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
It is also believed that the model will be built in the U.S., at the same South Carolina factory where Audi parent company Volkswagen AG plans to build all Scout Traveler and Terra, which, Car & Driver points out, would excuse it from import tariffs.
The new SUV will likely rival the Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Mercedes-Benz
The production facility won’t be all the vehicles have in common, though. The new Audi will also share a body-on-frame platform with Scout’s debut SUV and truck. This suggests that the SUV will be electrified in some manner. The American brand’s vehicles, which are being promoted as off-roaders, feature dual-motor electric powertrains, but also utilize a gas range extender. If this feature carries over to the Audi, that would technically make it a plug-in hybrid.
A representative for Audi told Robb Report on Tuesday that they had “no info to share either way on future product or future manufacturing plans.”
We may be in for quite the wait until we find out more about the next Audi, though. The Scout Travler and Terra were announced last year, but aren’t expected to go into production until 2027 at the earliest (the Blythewood factory is still under construction). If Audi’s off-roader is really as closely related as Automobilwoche predicts, it is likely to see release even later than that.
