cars news 10: Audi Q2 Confirmed for Launch in 2016

Next year, Audi will bring out a successor to the Q5 as well as a long-rumored new baby SUV, the Q2.

Audi hasn’t detailed plans for the two models yet, but we’ve known for a while that Audi was planning to expand its Q offerings. The automaker has already confirmed that a new Q8 model will slot above the Q7. On the other end of the spectrum, Audi says that in 2016 it will build the Q1 entry-level crossover, which should ride on the flexible MQB architecture. Of course, we don’t know if that small crossover, or the Audi Q2, will make its way to the U.S. or not.

By 2018, expect to see an electric crossover based off the Audi e-tron Quattro concept, and likely called the Q6. Previously, we heard the model will deliver 310 miles of range. Looking a little farther into the future, Audi says it will expand its lineup to 60 different vehicles by 2020.

“A significant proportion of our investment is naturally in the field of alternative drive systems,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in a statement. Like the Volkswagen brand, Audi’s focus on electrification could help reshape the public’s image of the entire company as it suffers from a major emissions scandal. In the coming year, the company will recruit experts in alternative drivetrains, lightweight construction, and IT to help develop its future cars.

Pictured above is the 2012 Audi Crosslane concept.

Source: Audi