Audi Roadmap Shows New A1 Sportback, SQ2, Q3 Are Due In 2018

With Audi already promising a new reveal once every three weeks in 2018, you can rest assured that Ingolstadt's agenda is jam-packed with new models. There are going to be a total of 17 launches this year and we already know the next-generation A6 and first-ever Q8 are coming. The yet-to-be-confirmed adjacent roadmap reveals the identity of three other models bound to show up within the next 11 months: A1 Sportback, SQ2, and Q3.

Audi's entry-level model is set to eschew the unpractical three-door version and will be sold exclusively in the five-door Sportback guise. Numerous spy images seem to point towards the same direction and it makes sense given the decreasing demand for hatchbacks that lack rear doors. The VW Polo's fancier brother will ride on the MQB platform and is expected to grow in size a little bit. Production of the A1 supermini will be moved from Brussels, Belgium to SEAT's plant at home in Martorell, Spain.

In regards to the SQ2, the name really says it all. It's going to be a hotter S version of the baby Q2 crossover and logic tells us it will use the same turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine as the S3 Sportback and S3 Sedan. As a consequence, output should stand at just shy of 300 horsepower while torque will be around 280 pound-feet (380 Newton-meters). As with every other model from Audi Sport (except for the R8 V10 RWS), the SQ2 is going to come as standard with Quattro.

Out of the three models mentioned in the roadmap, there's no doubt the all-new Q3 is the most important taking into account the A1 has never been a top performer while the SQ2 will serve as a niche model. Yet another member of the MQB family, the posh crossover will adopt an evolutionary design and is set to use an assortment of four-cylinder turbocharged engines. A three-cylinder unit might be offered as well in the entry-level specification, along with a plug-in hybrid setup. Of course, an RS Q3 will likely arrive further down the line with the mighty five-cylinder engine.

2018 will also be the year when Audi is going to launch the production version of its fully electric E-Tron crossover (pictured below) and there's also a good chance we will see an RS Q5. Latest intel coming straight from the four-ring company indicates an RS5 Sportback is being planned, along with a "surprise" RS model. There have been talks of an entry-level R8 with a biturbo 2.9-liter V6 engine from the RS4 and RS5, so we won't be to surprised if this one too will see the light of production day in the following months.

All in all, Audi has a very busy schedule up ahead and we will get to see at least one of the new products in a little over a month at the Geneva Motor Show.