Skip to main content

Great news, Audi fans: The RS 3 sedan and Q8 SUV are coming stateside

Audi RS 3 Sportback
Image used with permission by copyright holder
We’re big fans of the Audi S3 (and platform-sharing Volkswagen Golf R) here at DT, so it makes sense that we’d like a faster, sportier, and more extreme RS 3 version. Unfortunately we can’t know for sure, because the five-door Sportback, the only body style offered, has never made it to the U.S. A new report by Automotive News could mean that is changing.

Scott Keogh, President of Audi America, recently told the magazine that an RS 3 Sedan could see U.S. shores soon, saying, “We really, really want the RS 3. [The sedan is] going to be a great positioning car, a great halo car.”

While he wouldn’t confirm the car outright, Keogh did drop a pretty strong hint. “I’m very confident we’ll see that car in the market,” he said.

If and when the RS 3 Sedan arrives in America, it would likely equip the same 2.5-liter inline-five as its Sportback cousin. The turbocharged powerplant makes a stout 367 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque, allowing the all-wheel drive five-door to hit 62 mph in 4.3 seconds. Top speed is limited to 155 mph or 174 mph, depending on option package.

To sweeten the deal, the sedan will reportedly take major styling cues from the A3 Clubsport Quattro Concept that showed up last May. Yes, please.

Moving across the Audi brand, we have the Q8. The flagship SUV, which will be over 16 feet long and start around $75,000, was greenlit for production last year, and Keogh confirmed that it will indeed grace the American market.

“The Q8 looks to be a home run product for the U.S., if you look at its size and where it’s going to be positioned,” Keogh said. “That is absolutely a car that we will see in the United States.”

Editors' Recommendations

Andrew Hard
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew first started writing in middle school and hasn't put the pen down since. Whether it's technology, music, sports, or…
Audi Q3 Sportback crossover is a mini Q8 that won’t come to the U.S.
audi q3 sportback

Previous

Next

Read more
Can Audi plant its flag on Bentley’s turf with a palatial A8-based sedan?
2019 Audi A8 First Drive

The fourth-generation A8 proudly reigns over the Audi lineup as the company's flagship model. It's more lavish than ever before, and it oozes with cutting-edge tech features, but the German company believes there is room to make it even more luxurious in order to reach new buyers -- and, in the process, rival some of the world's most prestigious automakers.

Audi CEO Bram Schot told investors that the company has started working on a "particularly luxurious and prestigious derivative" of the A8. "We are thinking about revolutionizing the top-end class with a completely new concept for the A8," he said without going into further details.

Read more
Cybertruck production reportedly halted over pedal issue
Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Cybertruck.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Cybertruck. Tesla

Tesla’s Cybertruck has been hit by a production delay caused by an issue with a part of the vehicle, a number of media reports have claimed.

Read more