Audi has confirmed a new all-electric model, the Q8 e-tron, as a successor to the current e-tron SUV made in Brussels, Belgium.

The announcement was made by Markus Duesmann, CEO of Audi AG, earlier this month while visiting the plant in Forest, a municipality of Brussels, to mark the 8 millionth car built at the facility: an Audi e-tron in metallic Glacier White.

Citing the Audi exec, Belgian website RTL reports that the Q8 e-tron will enter production at Audi’s plant on the outskirts of Brussels from 2026, which means the reveal should happen sometime in 2025.

“The future will be electric. Our plant in Forest is carbon dioxide neutral. And when we deliver a new vehicle, we do so with a zero emissions in mind. Based on this experience, the next car produced here will be the Audi Q8 e-tron, the electric successor to the current e-tron. This choice is based on the current success.”
Markus Duessmann, CEO Audi AG

Gallery: Audi e-tron is the 8 millionth car built at the Brussels plant

The chief executive did not provide any details about the Q8 e-tron, but judging by the vehicle’s name, it should be a slightly bigger SUV than the e-tron, matching the footprint of the ICE-powered Audi Q8. Unlike the e-tron that uses an ICE-derived platform, the Q8 e-tron will be built on a dedicated electric vehicle architecture.

Details on the platform are scarce for now, but it could be PPE (Premium Platform Electric), the one co-developed by Porsche and Audi. We say that because PPE has already been confirmed for the upcoming Audi A6 e-tron sedan, which will have a comparable length to the Q8 e-tron.

Audi’s Belgian plant employs 3,000 people and has built a total of 115,000 e-tron (since fall 2018) and e-tron Sportback (since early 2020) EVs. Both e-tron SUVs will be given a facelift in the second half of 2022 before entering production in 2023. They will carry on until 2026, when the Brussels factory will start making the Q8 e-tron instead.

The new electric flagship SUV will be one of 20 new battery-powered models Audi plans to launch by 2025.

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