Audi just made it impossible to buy a Q7 with a four-cylinder engine. The 2027 redesign kills the 261-hp turbo four that anchored the lineup at $63,295, replacing it with a sole powertrain across every trim: a new 429-hp twin-scroll turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6. The base Q7 Premium now starts at $72,195, an $8,900 jump that Audi will frame as more power for the money.
Buyers who just wanted a three-row Audi badge for the school drop-off lane may see it differently.
The math is instructive. Last year’s V-6 Q7 started at $68,895, so the real apples-to-apples increase is closer to $3,300 for a significantly more powerful engine — 429 horsepower versus 355. That’s a reasonable ask.
But the sticker shock lands hardest on customers who were cross-shopping the old four-cylinder against a Volvo XC90 or Genesis GV80, vehicles that still offer entry points well south of $70,000.
Audi isn’t alone in this trim-level consolidation game. The playbook across the industry is the same: kill the low-margin stripper model, force everyone into richer content, and call it an upgrade rather than a price increase. It works until the customer walks.
Moving up the ladder, the Q7 Premium Plus starts at $76,595 and the Prestige at $86,195. Compare those to last year’s V-6 equivalents — $74,495 and $78,195, respectively — and the Prestige trim absorbs an $8,000 hit. An $86,000 three-row SUV is now in direct combat with a base BMW X7 and a well-equipped Mercedes GLE.
The SQ7 tells an even more aggressive story. Its twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 now cranks out 591 horsepower, up a massive 91 ponies from last year’s 500. The price is $99,995 — just barely clinging to a five-figure number — and it comes in a single trim that replaces the previous two-tier structure.
Last year you could get into an SQ7 Premium Plus for $95,095. Now there’s one door, and it costs five grand more to walk through.
That V-8 output number, though, is a genuine weapon. At 591 horsepower, the SQ7 undercuts the BMW X7 M60i on price while delivering substantially more power. It also parks uncomfortably close to Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT territory at a fraction of the cost.
If Audi tuned the chassis to match those numbers, the SQ7 could be the performance-SUV sleeper of the year.
All-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic remain standard across the range. Paint is where the nickel-and-diming begins: only Carrara White is free. Every other color costs $595, which is modest by luxury-brand standards but still worth noting for a vehicle that already starts north of $72,000.
The broader question is whether Audi’s bet pays off. Eliminating the four-cylinder entry point simplifies the lineup but surrenders the sub-$65,000 buyer entirely. That customer now shops BMW, Lexus, or Genesis.
For thirty years, the luxury playbook has been to hook buyers with an attainable base price and upsell them into the profitable trim. Audi just flipped the script. There’s no cheap way into a Q7 anymore, and every one that rolls off the line is a $72,000-plus truck with a V-6 under the hood. The margin per unit goes up, but the volume question is whether anyone flinches.
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