Newsflash: 2007 Audi Q7 Pricing Announced

Set to arrive in dealerships this June, the 2007 Audi Q7 is the long-awaited seven-passenger SUV that this German luxury automaker has needed for quite some time. As that on-sale date nears, Audi continues to nail down details about the version that Americans will be able to buy this summer.

At the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show this week, Audi announced that the first model to go on sale, the Q7 4.2 quattro with a V8 engine, will start at $49,900 plus a $720 destination charge. The horsepower and torque figures for this model have also been finalized at 350 ponies and 325 lb.-ft of torque. That gives the 2007 Audi Q7 a standard towing capacity of 5,500 pounds and an optional tow rating of 6,600 lbs. The cargo measurement behind the second-row seat with the third-row folded has also been determined. Audi is claiming a class-leading number of 27.4 cubic feet of capacity when five people are on board.

After the Q7 4.2 launches, a new Q7 3.6 will arrive and the price tag for that model is expected to be around $40,000. The Q7 3.6 won’t have the 4.2’s standard third-row seat, and it will be less powerful, but it should be available with the same trick Adaptive Cruise Control Plus system as the Q7 4.2, which can be used at any speed between 0 and 90-mph. That means you can set a speed in the city and the Q7 will automatically adjust to variable traffic conditions without requiring the driver to use the accelerator or re-set the system below a certain speed.

In an age when Chevy Tahoes and Ford Explorers easily cross the $45,000 threshhold, a $50,000 Audi SUV with seven-passenger capacity sounds like a bargain.

Photos by Ron Perry