When Audi's smallest SUV is getting its big tech upgrade in Australia

Audi Australia has confirmed the Q2 crossover will receive a substantial infotainment upgrade in the fourth quarter of 2024, aligning its smallest SUV with the wider lineup.

The existing model’s previous-generation 8.3-inch ‘MMI navigation plus’ display will be replaced by a larger 8.8-inch MMI touch unit running Audi’s latest user interface, complete with features like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Other notable upgrades include natural speech voice control, USB-C ports and extended connected functions; as well as a new storage compartment that replaces the previous iterations rotary controller on the centre console.

The 12.3-inch Audi virtual cockpit (digital instrument cluster) also gets updated graphics and new layouts depending on grade – the SQ2, for example, will pick up the bar-shaped tachometer counter from other Audi Sport models.

The updated Q2 is launching in Europe in the first half of 2024, and it’s expected in Australia towards the end of the year.

Other equipment now standard across in Europe includes a three-spoke multifunction steering wheel, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning and rear parking sensors, most of which are already standard here.

In addition to virtual cockpit, the Q2 added the following features for 2024:

• Adaptive cruise assist
• Active lane assist
• Audi pre sense front
• Audi pre sense basic
• Rear USB-C charge ports
• Storage package

Audi CEO Markus Duesmann told German business newspaper Handelsblatt early in 2022 the Q2, along with the A1 Sportback, won’t be replaced as the brand prioritises pricier, more profitable models.

“We have decided not to build the A1 [at the end of this model cycle], and there will be no successor model for the Q2 either,” he said.

“We will limit our range of models downwards and expand upwards”. Audi hasn’t confirmed when the A1 and Q2 will exit production, however.

The Q2 has been in production since 2016, arriving here early in 2017. A facelifted model arrived in 2021 and remains on sale today.

Last year there were 1486 new Audi Q2 units registered in Australia, quite a bit less than the 4457 registrations the larger Q3 returned for the 2023 calendar year.

It’s a similar story on 2024, with just 452 Q2 units registered to the end of May compared to 2150 Q3s. Perhaps this upcoming tech change and a potential price and spec revision could improve the Q2s fortunes.

MORE: Everything Audi Q2