Audi Is Updating The Q6 The West Can’t Have
- An updated Chinese-market Audi Q6 has been spotted testing in Germany.
- Unlike our Q6 e-tron EV, China’s Q6 is combustion-powered and much longer.
- The new design brings flush door handles and small grille and bumper tweaks.
The standard equipment might change from country to country but the Audi Q6 you can buy in America is essentially the same electric SUV you can buy in Europe, Australia or the Middle East. But due to the quirks of its car market China gets the new Q6 e-tron, a LWB version of the same, plus a totally different Q6 – and this last SUV is about to get a new lease of life.
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These spy shots show the second-generation Q6 gets flush door handles, a semi-clamshell hood and some discrete changes to the grille, bumpers and lights which, like the outgoing SUV’s are arranged in a two-deck format.
Related: 2025 Audi Q6L e-tron Goes Long For More Legroom And 435 Miles Of Range In China
The long 2,980 mm (117.3 in) wheelbase shouldn’t change much, and rear passengers will enjoy plenty of rear legroom, while whoever is riding shotgun in the front is likely to get an optional screen above the glovebox for the first time.
The West’s Q6 e-tron is an electric-only SUV that’s built around the same PPE EV platform found under the Porsche Macan Electric, but China’s Q6 is an exclusively combustion affair. And unlike our bigger Audi SUVs, which have a north-south engine layout, the Asian Q6 is based on a stretched version of the transverse-engined MQB Evo platform used by the VW Golf and Audi A3.
Most are powered by VW’s 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, though an oddball 2.5-liter VR6 tops the range at the moment. China’s recently facelifted Talagon kept the VR6, but the Q6’s other cousin, the VW Teramont – China’s VW Atlas- was recently refreshed, and there was no sign of the VR6 in the new lineup.
It’s possible Audi could focus exclusively on the EA888 four-banger, which is capable of making the same kind of power as the older, thirstier VR6, but would be taxed less harshly. China is the only country still using VW’s narrow-angle V6s, which feature a single cylinder head.
The current Q6, built through a joint venture between Audi and SAIC, debuted in China in 2022, and we don’t expect this one to hit the market until 2026 or 2027. And it won’t be hitting the US or European markets at all, where buyers will still choose between the other (all-electric) Q6 and the ageing combustion Q7.
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Baldauf
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