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Bruce Newton16 Aug 2019
NEWS

Audi SQ5 could double-up

Audi Australia plotting world-first two-prong TDI and TFSI strategy for mid-size performance-luxury SUV

Australia could become the only country in the world in which both petrol and diesel versions of the Audi SQ5 hot SUV are sold alongside each other.

That’s the plan that’s been hatched by Audi in Australia, where the 260kW/500Nm 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6-powered Audi SQ5 TFSI is already on sale and where the 255kW/700Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 TDI version is expected on sale in 2020.

The trick is that Audi’s usual global policy dictates that markets choose either the petrol or diesel versions of the SQ5 rather than take both.

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But Audi Australia wants to buck that trend because the SQ5 TFSI is well entrenched and the first generation TDI was a big hit when first introduced here back in 2013, something it hopes its successor can reproduce.

“It’s got a very successful track record in Australia in the first generation when it was only available in diesel,” confirmed Audi Australia spokesman Shaun Cleary.

“For a while SQ5 TDI was making up more than 30 per cent of all Q5 sales, which is amazing. It was one of the first high-performance SUVs when it arrived in 2013 and that was a fairly new concept then.

“The current SQ5 has been very successful as well. [But] In terms of the big SUVs there is healthy demand for diesels."

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However, Cleary admitted the politics and logistics of the situation were still being worked through.

“My understanding is that we could offer both TFSI and TDI at the same time – whether we will is still to be determined.

“I can’t confirm if we would be the only market to do so, although we’re not currently aware of any others that do offer both.”

The original Audi SQ5 TDI went on sale in Australia in 2013, priced at $89,400. It made 230kW/650Nm from its 3.0-litre V6 biturbo diesel engine, could accelerate to 100km/h in 5.1 sec and averaged 6.8L/100km.

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Launched as part of the second-generation line-up in Australia in July 2017, the latest Audi SQ5 TFSI remains unchanged at $99,611, manages the 0-100km/h dash in 5.4sec and averages 8.7L/100km.

Obviously Aussie pricing is still TBC for the new SQ5 TDI, as is a delivery date in Australia more specific than 2020. Like its diesel predecessor, it claims a 5.1sec 0-100km/h time and 6.8L/100km.

But the new engine now combines a single turbocharger with an electric compressor, a 48-volt electrical system and belt-driven alternator-starter motor to recover or expend electricity.

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