2027 Audi Q9 And SQ9 Revealed: What Makes Them The New Flagships

Audi has a new flagship model line and — given the sales success of SUVs — it comes as little surprise that it's the 2027 Q9 and SQ9 that are the fresh flag-bearers for Ingolstadt. Bigger and more luxurious than the Q7, and with more seating than the Q8, the Q9 and SQ9 are actually Audi's first full-size SUVs. They're also priced to suit, kicking off at $89,095 (including $1,395 destination).

Chatter of a top-tier people-mover for Audi has been bubbling for some time, now, and it's hard to argue with the automaker's timing. SUVs remain Audi's bread and butter for sales in the U.S., though numbers had been shrinking in 2025. The new 2027 Q7 and SQ7, announced in June, marked the first attempt at reinvention there; now, the Q9 and SQ9 load up on performance, luxury, and tech to hold Mercedes and others at bay.

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For the Q9, the goal is lavish transportation in a bigger model (though the roughly 29 inches of third row legroom match that of the Q7). As for the 2027 SQ9 — which starts at $119,395 (including destination) — that's a reminder of Audi's still-impressive gas engine options.

Audi hasn't been slow in adopting electrification, but the Q9 and SQ9 are firmly in the ICE camp, at least to begin with. At launch, the 2027 Q9 will have a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 that brings a hefty 429 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque to play. Quattro all-wheel drive and an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission are both standard, and Audi says altogether it's sufficient for a 0-60 mph time of 4.9 seconds. Not bad at all, for something with a roughly 5,300 pound curb weight.

The 2027 SQ9 goes even further, unsurprisingly, with Audi's familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. That has 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, trimming the 0-60 time to just 3.8 seconds. That's four-tenths of a second behind an RS6 Avant, despite the SQ9 being over 5,550 pounds.

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All that power means towing up to 7,700 pounds for both models is possible. And adaptive air suspension — which can adjust ride height both for performance on- and off-road — is standard in both cases, with some trims getting all-wheel steering, too. Audi hasn't confirmed fuel economy numbers yet, though with such potent engines it's not out of line to expect similarly aggressive thirst.

Though Audi has offered adaptive cruise control for years, now, the absence of a hands-free version — to take on systems like GM's Super Cruise and Lincoln's BlueCruise — was increasingly noticeable. That all changes with the arrival of the 2027 Q9, however, and the available Adaptive Cruise Assist Plus.

It'll be standard on the Q9 Premium Plus and Prestige trims, and the SQ9, Audi says. On select highways — presumably, like with GM and Ford's systems, pre-mapped at a higher resolution than relied upon for normal navigation apps — drivers will be able to set the speed and distance from the vehicle ahead, and then take their hands off the wheel. The Q9 will steer by itself, and maintain speed with traffic (at up to 85 mph).

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It's a Level 2 system, by the SAE's standards of autonomy, and so (like with rivals) the human driver is still responsible even if the Q9 is steering. This isn't true autonomous driving; a camera behind the steering wheel tracks driver attention, and sounds the alarm if that attention is straying.

Still, even with those limitations, hands-free systems can be a real boon for those facing lengthy road trips. While Active Cruise Assist Plus will launch on the Q9, Audi says it plans to expand availability to other models in the future, including the Q7. Honestly, it's about time for a company that has long played up its tech reputation.

America has been looking longingly at Audi Digital Matrix Light technology for years, now, but with the Q9 the U.S. will finally get to experience them on the road. The new adaptive beam Digital Matrix LED headlights eschew the binary of conventional high-beam lights, in favor of a Digital Matrix LED array that can selectively generate a light pattern in real-time, according to oncoming traffic.

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Front-facing cameras monitor the road ahead for cars and other vehicles. Where that would usually flip the auto high-beams off in an existing Audi, in the Q9 the Digital Matrix Light headlights will be able to create a dimmer "shadow" around the oncoming vehicle. The result, Audi says, is no glare for that driver, but without a loss of visibility on the rest of the road and surroundings.

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In addition to the smarter front lights, the rear of the Q9 gets a tail lamp upgrade compared to Audi's other SUVs. Digital OLED taillights 3.0 use curved OLED panels on Q9 Prestige trim and above, with the automaker promising more patterns — with eight customizable signatures in the U.S. — along with better visibility and clarity. Oh, and the Q9 can even project stylized turn signal graphics onto the road, at the front and back of the SUV, to make upcoming maneuvers even clearer to other drivers.

Getting inside the Q9 starts with optional automatic doors, opening to a cabin with seating for seven as standard, or six as an option with power-adjustable second row captain's chairs. Overhead, there's a standard panoramic sunroof — Audi says it's the largest ever fitted to one of its cars — that opens, with optional electrochromatic shading. That selectively transitions between opaque and clear, at the touch of a button, in place of a traditional sunshade.

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The dashboard gets an 11.9-inch virtual cockpit for the driver, a 14.5-inch center touchscreen, and a 12.3-inch front passenger display as standard. There's magnetic front charging for two phones (using the Qi 2.2 standard) and USB-C PD up to 100W available for all three rows of seats. A 1,360 watt Bang & Olufsen Premium Sound System with 4D Sound adds 22 speakers and two seat actuators.

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In the seven-seat configuration, there's up to 19.3 cu-ft behind the third row, up to 50 cu-ft behind the second, and up to 87.8 cu-ft with both rows folded.

Audi says the 2027 Q9 and SQ9 will start to arrive in the U.S. at the end of 2026.