The Audi Q8 will be replaced in 2026 by a Q8 e-tron, a large 100% electric SUV that will be produced in Belgium. This is where the Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback are currently assembled. This plant has just passed the milestone of 8 million cars produced.
Audi will launch its ultimate thermal engine vehicle in 2026. From then on, the brand with the rings will only market “zero emission” models. Therefore, a reorganization of its range is to be expected in the years to come. On the occasion of an event celebrating 8 million vehicles produced in its Belgian factory in Brussels, the manufacturer confirmed the replacement of its imposing Q8 by a large 100% electric SUV which will unsurprisingly be called the Q8 e-tron.
The Q8 e-tron in 2026
The Audi factory in Brussels started its activity in 1949 for the American brand Studebaker, then came under Volkswagen control and even produced some Porsche 356s in the early 1960s. It became an exclusive Audi production center in 2007 and currently assembles the e-tron and e-tron Sportback electric SUVs. This is their place that the Q8 e-tron will take on the assembly lines, from 2026. The current Q8 is produced in Slovakia and Russia. It is due to be restyled in 2022.
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An e-tron range taken to the top
The Q8 has been leading the Audi SUV range since 2018 with thermal, micro-hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines. The high-end market like that of SUVs doing relatively well, its renewal was not in doubt. The assignment of the Brussels plant to the production of his successor nevertheless reassures about the future of this site, which was called into question by its failure to obtain the manufacture of the future large electric sedan of the firm. As for the replacement of the Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback, while the manufacturer’s range of electric SUVs is expanding with the Q4 e-tron and soon Q6 e-tron, it is for its part becoming uncertain.
Audi’s Brussels plant is currently assembling the e-tron and e-tron Sportback.
