An updated Audi Q7 is coming for the 2024 model year. We've captured all kinds of prototypes in public, wearing various states of camouflage primarily at the front and rear. Our friends at Motor.es took some of those spy images and digitally peeled away the layers, giving us the unofficial rendering you see above. When the reveal becomes official, this is how the new Q7 may look.
In this case, we aren't talking about a completely new vehicle. The bones of the current-generation Q7 aren't changing despite being nearly a decade old at this point. In the fast-moving world of SUVs, that's borderline prehistoric. But Audi will make the most of the older platform with a modernized face that sees the grille get larger while headlights grow smaller.
Gallery: Audi Q7 Spy Photos
It's certainly the trend among pretty much all automakers these days, but the rendering helps us understand Audi's take with a grille that's not deeper, but wider. And the headlights, while slimmer, aren't nearly as razor-thin as we see on vehicles like the BMW X7. And with a wider grille comes less room for rectangular corner vents on the fascia, so they now adopt a vertical orientation. The rendering depicts the grille as having a large mesh motif, with the painted surround connecting directly with the lights. Overall, it's a very clean, geometric look.
The rendering also depicts a two-tone finish running low along the side of the SUV. That's not just a flight of fancy – we've seen prototypes with camouflage wrap applied to the bottoms of the door, suggesting some kind of change could be coming. The rendering doesn't show changes at the rear, but spy photos suggest new taillights are coming. Considering Audi's history in the world of mid-cycle facelifts, you may need to squint to spot differences.
Technically speaking, this could be considered a late-cycle refresh. The current-gen Q7 debuted for the 2016 model year, and it already received a facelift in 2020. Audi obviously has larger electric plans in the works, so this second refresh will likely keep the combustion-powered Q7 around a bit longer until a full EV replacement is ready to go.
