WHAT: The Q5 is Audi's ultra-late arrivals to the SUV party. Based on the next A4, it aims at the BMW X3. Like the Q7, it forsakes heavy-duty off-road gear but offers hill-descent control and air suspension. The Q5's Quattro all-wheel-drive system has a 40/60 percent front/rear torque bias. Likely engines include a direct-injection 2.0-liter four and a 3.2-liter V-6. The 4.2-liter V-8 could power an S-line version. A six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG do the shifting. There's no third row, but the back seat moves fore and aft. Audi hopes to sell 70,000 of each.
WHEN: The Q7, an '06 model, will debut at this fall's Frankfurt show; the Q5 follows in 2007.
CHANGE OF PLAN: The Allroad Quattro was supposed to be Audi's sport-utility, but now that idea seems hopelessly naive. The Q5 (and Q7) will attend to SUV folk, while upcoming Allroad versions of the A6 and A4 Avants target the neo-SUV crowd.