A few days back, Audi India made it official that it has commenced the production for the Q5 facelift at Audi’s SAVWPIL plant in Aurangabad. And now, the German carmaker has opened the booking window for the Q5 facelift. Set to be launched in the month of November, one can book the updated luxury SUV by paying INR 2 Lakh. Cars have already started reaching dealerships and if you wish to book one for yourself, you can do so on Audi’s website or via its dealer network.
Official statement
Speaking on the commencement of bookings, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India, said, “Today, we open bookings for our strong addition to Audi’s successful Q family in India – the Audi Q5. This will be our 9th product launch for 2021 and we couldn’t be happier about our progress for the year. The new Audi Q5 is a perfect blend of features, comfort and practicality in its segment”
Exterior
The Q5 family gets a significant raft of visual alterations. Consequently, it gets many styling cues first seen on the Q8 flagship. Upfront, the large grille has a thinner frame that no longer butts up against the headlights. Some trims will see vertical slats finished in chrome, and the skid plate also being finished in silver instead of black. The S line sporty trim has a black honeycomb pattern grille.
The car also gets larger air intakes now and the fog lamp housing is also larger, and more prominent. It gives the bumper a wider, flared look, despite the grille dominating its face. Around the rear, the differences are a little more subtle. There are new tail lamps and a chunkier ornamental diffuser.
Notably, Audi’s pioneering OLED lighting tech is available as an option. The optional OLED rear light is split into three tiles of six segments each with Audi designers going this extra distance in a bid to create multiple designs and signatures from a single item of hardware. Customers would be able to select from three rear-light signatures. This technology first debuted in the e-Tron Sportback and has now trickled down here.
Features
As far as features are concerned, the new Audi Q5 has a plethora of them. The new Q5 will come with the company’s latest infotainment package called MIB 3 (shared with most other new Audi products), displayed on a new 10.1-inch touchscreen. MIB 3 boasts 10 times as much processing power as its predecessor, and it now offers cloud-based vehicle customization – if you get into another Audi with MIB 3, you can download your vehicle preferences by logging into the infotainment system.
Audi has done away with its rotary controller for the Multimedia Interface, instead of relying on the larger touchscreen for inputs. As always, the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit continues in its newest iteration. There are three design trims to choose from here as well and a suite of navigation and connected-car features. A simplified version of this could make it to India. A head-up display is available as an optional extra.
Specs
The India-spec Audi Q5 facelift is expected to be powered by the same 2.0-liter turbo-petrol motor seen in the Audi A6. In its 45 TFSI iteration, this motor generates 245PS of power and 370Nm of peak torque. The Q5 will also get a mild-hybrid setup to improve fuel economy. The engine will be mated to a 7-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch gearbox, while Quattro all-wheel drive will be standard.