Audi just fired its opening shot in the full-size luxury SUV war, and it landed before BMW could even reload. The first official interior images of the 2027 Audi Q9 dropped this week, revealing a cabin dripping with premium materials, automatic doors, and a triple-screen cockpit ahead of a July 29 full reveal. The next-generation BMW X7, codenamed G67, isn’t expected until 2027.
That timing gap is the story. Audi has never had a true three-row luxury SUV competitor in this segment. The Q7 technically offered a third row, but anyone who ever folded themselves into it knows it was a gesture, not a solution.
The Q9 is Audi’s first real swing at the space Mercedes has owned for two decades with the GLS and BMW carved out in 2018 with the X7. The automatic doors are the headline feature, and they’re a deliberate jab at Munich. BMW has been teasing powered doors for the upcoming G67 X7, but Audi got there first.
The Q9’s electrically operated doors open up to 90 degrees, can be triggered via key fob or smartphone, and respond to brake pedal and seatbelt status. It’s the kind of convenience tech that sells $90,000 SUVs to people who already have everything.
Inside, the six-seat configuration gets individually adjustable and ventilated second-row chairs, while the seven-seat layout accommodates child seats across a three-person bench. Front occupants get cooled and massaging thrones. The panoramic roof spans 1.5 square meters of switchable glass with nine individually controllable segments that toggle between transparent and opaque.
The top trim adds 84 LEDs in 30 colors, which is either stunning or a nightclub on wheels depending on your taste. Audi kept some physical controls alive, which is worth applauding in an era when most German luxury brands treat buttons like relics. A volume knob sits on the center console, and real switches populate the steering wheel and door panels.
Material choices signal that Audi learned from the industry’s glossy black plastic disaster. The Q9 minimizes those smudge-magnet surfaces in favor of textured and matte finishes. New interior colors like tamarind brown and stone beige have never appeared in an Audi before.
Wool, leather, wood, and carbon fiber round out the customization palette. This is Audi positioning the Q9 not just as its biggest SUV, but as its most luxurious vehicle, period.
That last point matters more than it might seem. The A8 sedan is being retired this year with no direct successor arriving until near the end of the decade. The Q9 becomes Audi’s de facto flagship, a full-size SUV carrying the brand’s prestige until the next-generation sedan arrives.
It’s an unusual position for Ingolstadt, and it puts enormous pressure on this vehicle to deliver. The Q9 hits U.S. dealers later this year, with global expansion following in 2027. Both Audi and BMW will offer six- and eight-cylinder powertrains for their respective flagships, but the paths diverge on electrification.
BMW has confirmed an iX7 is coming. Audi appears unlikely to build a battery-electric Q9. Audi spent years watching BMW and Mercedes own this segment, and now it’s arriving late but arriving heavy, with a flagship SUV that has to carry the entire brand on its roof rails.
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