09:58 26-07-2026

Audi Q9 Horch: spy shots show the vertical grille Audi’s CEO ruled out

A camouflaged Q9 prototype has turned up with blacked-out vertical grille slats and a reworked bumper. It could be the Horch flagship Audi denied, or the freshly filed SQ9. World premiere: 29 July 2026.

The new Audi Q9 flagship, the SUV with which Volkswagen Group is moving into the large premium segment, has been caught by spy photographers once again. And this time the prototype looks noticeably different from everything shown so far.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner had previously stated outright that there would be no Horch version of the crossover. Yet the latest test car bears little resemblance to earlier mules: instead of the familiar honeycomb mesh it wears a massive radiator grille with black vertical slats. The front bumper has been reworked too and has lost its cells. The wheels have changed as well — where the standard Q9 gets an elegant pattern, this one runs black multi-spoke rims with a far more aggressive character.

The arrival of such a version casts doubt on the boss’s words. The car could well be shaping up as a direct rival to the Mercedes-Maybach GLS. But there is another explanation: in April Audi filed an application for the “SQ9” trademark, so what the cameras caught may be the sporty variant. In that case it would go up against the BMW Alpina XB7 and the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63. The black body trim, incidentally, sits closer to a performance image than the traditional chrome of Horch models.

The world premiere of the production Q9 takes place on 29 July 2026, and it will be held in the United States — the first time in the brand’s history that a new model is shown across the Atlantic before anywhere else. Sales will start there too: the flagship was developed for the American market from the outset. It will be built at the Volkswagen Group plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, where the Porsche Cayenne is currently assembled. Hence the project’s main risk: importing cars from Europe into the US currently carries elevated tariffs.

Beyond that, the company is exploring the option of expanding the range with a body-on-frame off-roader on the Scout Motors platform, a direct rival to the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. No decision on that project has been taken yet. Official technical specifications for the newcomer have not been disclosed either — all of it will become clear at the premiere.