The new Audi Q7 will cost at least £50k – on sale April 2015

The new Audi Q7 – revealed at the Detroit Motor Show – will cost from £50,340 for the Q7 SE, rising to £53,835 for the S Line. On sale April 2015.

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The all new Audi Q7, an evolutionary design of Audi’s big SUV, has shed weight, actually shrunk in size and will go on sale in the UK in April, when it will cost from £50,340 for the new Q7 SE with the 3.0 litre diesel engine and 268bhp.

That 3.0 litre V6 diesel will be the only engine available in the UK for the time being, but Audi are introducing a lower-powered version – with 216bhp – later in 2015, and you can expect the Q7 e-tron plug-in Hybrid, with the promise of 368bhp and 160mpg, to arrive in 2016.

For now, you’ll be looking at 47.9mpg and 153g/km for the 268bhp Q7, which promises to get to 62mph in a respectable 6.5 seconds, figures that are a decent improvement on the old Q7.

Despite shrinking in size, the new Q7 offers more space in a cabin that is more appealing than the geriatric one the old Q7 had, complete with the option of Audi’s Virtual Cockpit where the instruments get replaced by a 12.3″ TFT display.

All three rows of seats in the 7-seater Q7 are finished in Twin leather, the second row gets a tilt and fold function and the back row is now power folded for when you don’t need them.

The new Q7 also gets Audi’s MMI Nav Plus with MMI Touch and trial access to Audi Connect which gives you 4G internet access and created a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Entry-level is the Q7 SE, but if you want to splash out a bit more (the Q7 S Line costs from £53, 835, £3,495 more than the Q7 SE) you’ll get bigger alloys, LED headlights, a sporty body kit, Nappa Leather and Alcantara, Privacy Glass, and four-zone Climate.

The new Audi Q7 goes on sale in Audi’s UK dealers in April 2015, with first cars expected in August. It looks a good package, but there’s some serious competition for the Q7, not least the all-new Volvo XC90.