As the popularity of crossovers continues to build, even the luxury automakers are getting in on the game. Audi has talked about bringing its little Q3 luxury crossover to the U.S. for a while now, and we'll finally see one on U.S. soil at the Detroit show, but only in concept form.
Sharing a platform with the Volkswagen Tiquan, the Q3 was designed to line up against BMW's equally compact X1 crossover, whose own plans to enter the U.S. market have been put on hold due to overwhelming demand abroad. Audi still hasn't committed to bringing the Q3 here, but bringing a concept to Detroit is widely seen as testing the waters. If it does come here, we expect it will be powered by Audi's ubiquitous 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine driving all four wheels through a seven-speed transmission, though it's possible it could also be offered in a front-wheel drive configuration. We're also hoping Audi's 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder also makes the trip across the pond.
Because the Q3 is already in production and on-sale elsewhere, Audi decided it needed to spice things up a little for the U.S. debut and settled on a "themed" concept. Hence, the Q3 Vail Concept you see here.