The Audi Q5 is a premium player in the small crossover market. Some may think a compact crossover is a betrayal of the Audi tradition, but it actually makes perfect sense. The Audi Q5 is an expression of what Audi has been doing for decades.
After all, the Audi Q5 is really an Audi all-wheel-drive wagon. And Audi has been building station wagons equipped with its famed Quattro all-wheel-drive system for decades. And really, with its relatively low ride height, it's not like the Audi Q5 is trying very hard to be anything except an aggressively styled station wagon.
Underneath its skin, the first Audi Q5 was, in fact, closely related to other Audis. The first Q5 was built using Audi's "Modular Longitudinal Platform" (MLP) that is the building block that underpinned the contemporary A4 sedan and A5 coupe. And the Audi Q5 carried many of the same drivetrain components as those two, including four- and six-cylinder engines.
But the importance of the Audi Q5 extends beyond its performance as a product. The Q5 was first shown to the public at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, the first Audi to make its first appearance in Asia. And it debuted there because this is the vehicle that will spearhead Audi's expansion in China and other regions. While the Q5 sold in America has (so far) been produced in Germany, it's also being assembled in India for that massive market and in Changchun, China for sale in that nation. If Audi is going to establish beachheads in those emerging markets, it's the Q5 that's going to be planting the flag.
As it is, the Audi Q5 is a very refined, very comfortable and beautifully detailed crossover. It's not by any stretch overwhelmingly powerful, and it's likely to scale many more parking lot speed bumps than Himalayan peaks, but it's a state-of-the-art premium small SUV. If the Audi Q5 isn't the benchmark for its class, then whatever company is making that benchmark is comparing it to the Q5.
And someday, the Audi Q5 may help Audi conquer the plant.
