► Audi wins rights to Q2, Q4 badges
► Ingolstadt does a deal with Fiat Group
► New Q2 here first – expected in 2016
The Q2 and Q4 badging argument between Audi and the Fiat Group has been settled, CAR understands – and Ingolstadt is free to call its new junior soft-roader coming in 2016 the Q2.
Alfa Romeo had owned the badges, previously used to denote its two- and four-wheel-drive models such as the 159 Q4, and it was not keen to share them. They are not currently active, however, and our sources confirm that Audi has, after protracted negotiations, struck a deal with Fiat Chrysler group (FCA) to acquire the names from Turin.
Why does Audi want the Q2 and Q4 badges?
Audi is currently spending €22 billion on new and incremental products – and this is creating a void of car badges required to name this increasingly fragmented product line-up. In a perfect world, Audi would lock up all the Q1-Q9 badges in its trademark cupboard.
What we previously called the Q1 baby SUV, scooped by CAR and confirmed officially by Audi under the AU276 codename, should by rights be a Q2 under the brand’s logical nomenclature. Now we know it will indeed wear the higher number. All the better for higher prices…
Now CAR’s spies have once again captured the Q2 testing in early prototype form – see the gallery accompanying this story for the latest images, and click here for our previous scoop story.
Q4: also now under Audi ownership
The Bavarians have also managed to pry the highly desirable Q4 acronym from the ownership of FCA. A source from Ingolstadt tells CAR: ‘In an ideal world, Q1 would be reserved for an even smaller crossover derived from the next A1. The Q4 suffix would come handy to fill the void between Q3 and Q5.’
Word is, the Q4 will be used for a Q3 coupe, the renamed TTQ or a B-BEV crossover based on the group’s all-encompassing MQB matrix.
And Q1? This latest development leaves Ingolstadt with the option to stick the Q1 badge onto a not-yet-signed-off Polo-based SUV hitherto known as Q Junior. Yep, there’s no end to the proliferation of new crossovers…
