Audi Q5 to make its world debut at Beijing auto show

Shanghai, April 18 (Gasgoo.com) Just a few days before its world debut at the 2008 Beijing auto show, spy photographers caught the 2009 Audi Q5 on Nurburg streets, Germany. The spy photos will be confirmed on the coming Sunday when the Beijing show kicks off.

The five-passenger Q5 is expected to offer a choice of gas and diesel engines in Europe, with a 3.2-liter V6 likely to be the base power plant, and a hybrid edition is also likely to be launched at the same time. Latest sources said that Audi Q5 will use the same engine system as FAW's Tiguan, and that means the premium crossover will come to the global markets with Audi's 1.4TSI, 2.0TDI, 3.0TDI engines for choice.

The Q5, which uses the same Quattro four-wheel-drive system and the same chassis that underpins the Audi A5/A4, will be rolling into European showrooms this year and will reach U.S. dealers early next year as a 2010 model. Prices are expected to start at less than $40,000.

Ii is reported that t Audi Q5, which is seen as Audi's answer to the X3 from BMW and Mercedes' upcoming GLK, will have a strong family resemblance to the Audi Q7.

Audi is using the Beijing show to roll out its newest model the Audi Q5 crossover in part because it sees China as a key market for growing sales. China is now Audi's second-biggest market, after Germany.