The price of the Audi SQ7 and why the sporty SUV from Audi has such a hard time

The Audi SQ7 has now gone on sale in Spain, a SUV with a 435 CV V8 TDI engine priced from 114,050 euros.

Audi has just started selling in Spain the SQ7 TDI, the sportiest version of the new Audi Q7. As you can imagine, this is not exactly a car for every budget: its price starts at 114,050 euros.

Expensive? Well, it depends on how you look at it. One way to judge is to see what the competition offers. In this sense, we can say the SQ7 has a “fair price”. Let us remember that we are dealing with a SUV from the upper segment, with a 435 CV V8 TDI engine and a comprehensive standard equipment list.

Among other things, it includes 20-inch alloy wheels, sporty air suspension and Matrix LED headlights. Although some elements that this car could well be expected to have as standard are charged separately, such as four-wheel steering, the active anti-roll bar system or the sports differential. You can read a full description of the features of the Audi SQ7 here.

But it is rather curious that a SUV like the Audi SQ7 finds itself in such a complicated position when compared with its alternatives within the brand itself.

This tends to happen with many models and versions when we talk about manufacturers with a range as broad as that of Audi. But why do we say this in the case of the Audi SQ7, a SUV that, on paper, is very appealing if price were not a problem?

It has everything… except the ECO label

Because, to start with, Audi does not certify the new SQ7 as a “Mild-Hybrid”. That certification is found on its “sibling”, the new Audi SQ8, with which it shares the engine. This makes it clear that there is no technical reason.

In fact, the Audi SQ7 also has a 48-volt electrical system, needed to meet the energy demand of the electric compressor that supports the turbochargers driven by the exhaust gases. And of systems that also use electric motors, such as the rear-wheel steering or the active anti-roll stabilisation system.

But there is no additional electric motor here connected to the crankshaft by a belt (Audi calls it BAS) which would allow the SQ7 to work as a Mild-Hybrid, recovering up to 8 kW of energy during deceleration phases between 55 and 160 km/h, which would give it all the advantages of the ECO label.

At this point, you are probably thinking that the buyer of a Audi SQ7, who can spend more than 100,000 euros on a car, cares little about the DGT labels. But that is only because you do not live in a city like Madrid or Barcelona.

Although the main “problem” of the Audi SQ7 is called SQ8. If you are looking for a sporty SUV in this category, unless you need a third row of seats, the coupé-style body of the SQ8 fits the role much better than the SQ7’s. And you do not have to give up good rear seats or a very capable boot.

I do not want to be a bore. But, in addition, the SQ8 does have an ECO label. Of course, the price here starts at 122,880 euros, almost 9,000 euros more than the SQ7. But I would pay it without hesitation.

Staying within the Q7 range, another of Audi’s recent novelties also makes a lot of sense here. It is called the Audi Q7 60 TFSIe quattro and it is a plug-in hybrid. It has a system power of 455 CV (20 CV more than the SQ7), a homologated consumption three times lower and costs 89,460 euros. That is about 24,000 euros less than the SQ7, which leaves room for a lot of extra equipment. And it carries the CERO emissions label!

So is the SQ7 hard to justify or not?

Images of the Audi SQ7

Technical specifications of this car

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