Audi readying new crossover to rival the BMW X6

Audi has kicked off development of a new performance-orientated crossover model to directly counter the BMW X6.

Set to be called the Q6 when it reaches North American showrooms, the five-seat crossover is rumored to be based around the same all-wheel-drive underpinnings as the second-generation Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne, both of which use a short-wheelbase version of the Volkswagen Group's so-called Colorado platform that in long-wheelbase guise is also used in the Audi Q7.

Nothing has been made official, but in an interview with the German media at the Geneva motor show, Audi boss Rupert Stadler alluded to the crossover, saying, “We can imagine a model between the Q5 and the Q7 . . . a coupelike, four-wheel-driven model.”

Audi's decision to add the Q6 to its lineup comes after lobbying calls from its North American and Chinese subsidiaries for a standard-size SUV to counter the BMW X6, global sales of which more than doubled original predictions in 2010.

As with its key rival, the Q6 is likely to arrive on the U.S. market with a range of gasoline and diesel engines, plus a hybrid option similar to what's used on the Touareg and Cayenne hybrids.

The decision to provide the new model with what Stadler describes as “coupelike” styling and standard “four-wheel drive” also paves the way for an outwardly sporting variant from Audi quattro, the same division responsible for the company's diverse range of RS models. While still early, Audi is thought to be considering an RS Q6 model powered by the new turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 engine earmarked to appear in the RS6 at September's Frankfurt motor show.

By Greg Kable