Saar: The flagship Q model, which is manufactured in Bratislava, will launch in Europe next month.

It was during the Audi China Brand Summit, which was held in Shenzhen last month when the company took the wraps off its new flagship SUV – the Audi Q8. Now though, the Ingolstadt-based carmaker has revealed the starting price, booking, launch and engine details of the Q8.

Audi has started accepting bookings for the Q8 in Europe, a market where the company will launch the Q8 in August this year. That seems to be a logical move since Audi builds the Q8 in its Bratislava plant. As far as prices are concerned, Audi has revealed that they will start at 76,300 euros. If we take Audi’s home market, Germany, into account, the starting price of the Q8 is 15,100 euros more than where the Q7 starts. That’s quite a premium Audi will charge for the Q8, which is underpinned by the same sort of skeleton like the one in the Q7.

Over to the engine. At the unveiling event, Audi confirmed that all engines that will go under the hood of the Q8 will have mild-hybrid technology. Well, Audi has released the specs of just one power plant as of now and is expected to offer the same in different variants. Classified as the 50 TDI, it is a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine that puts out 286PS of power and 600Nm of torque. Compared to the 3.0-litre TDI engine that does duty in the Q7, the Q8 will have an additional 14PS to play with. The additional power is courtesy of the 48-volt mild hybrid system.

As far as performance figures are concerned, Audi claims that the Q8 can do the nought to 100kmph sprint in 6.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 245kmph. When you match those figures with the comparable Q7 model, the 0-100kmph time is the same while the top speed has been upped by 11kmph. As far as transmission and drive type are concerned, the Q8 will get an 8-speed Tiptronic automatic unit which will route the power to the road via the Quattro four-wheel-drive system.

Audi hasn’t revealed when the Q8 will come to Asia or to India. It is expected that after launching it in the European market, Audi will then shift its focus towards its biggest standalone markets – the USA and China. India will surely get the Q8 as well but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.