The market seems ripe at the moment for oversize SUVs, which is odd because a few years ago everybody expected smaller crossovers to take over from large SUVs and they would go the way of dinosaurs. But most car makers are building new and ever bigger utility vehicles and this is what Audi has planned as their offering: the new Audi Q8.

Set for world debut at the Detroit Motor Show in near-production concept form, the Audi Q8 looks big even in these preliminary sketches they have released. Audi says the design has some Coupe qualities to it and mixes those with the spaciousness of a full-size SUV and that is why they have given it only four seats inside. That sound like bollocks to us. Everything is “coupe-like” these days just because it has a low roof and small windows. It’s not a bloody coupe. It’s a giant SUV, deal with it.

Audi Q8 concept comes with some design features that we could possibly see in future Audi production models. The main highlights are the massive octagonal Singleframe front grille, flat C-post and uniquely flared wheel arches. Some of this stuff are inspired by the Audi Ur-quattro of the 1980s. The Q8 sure looks impressive in these drawings, but chances are the production version will lose a large chunk of this charm, just as Q7 did back in the day.