Audi planning more high-performance SUVs, including RS Q8

The company's line-up will be a lot bigger in a year.

Audi will expand its portfolio of RS-badged, high-performance models by firing a salvo of SUVs. Most of them will break cover during the next 12 months, according to a recent report, though not all of them will be sold in the United States.

"We have to stretch our portfolio, and the SUV segment is the segment with the most growth. There is high demand from our customers for high-performance SUVs. The RS Q8 we will launch this year. There is really, really high demand for this type of car," said Oliver Hoffman, Audi Sport's managing director, in an interview with British magazine Autocar.

Audi is not planning to release an RS 8 aimed at the Mercedes-AMG S63, so the RS Q8 will sit at the top of its line-up. Performance specifications remain under wraps, but we won't have to wait long to learn more about the SUV. Hoffman's comments suggest it will break cover either at the Frankfurt auto show in September, or at the Los Angeles auto show in November.

Moving down the range, Autocar believes the Q3, the Q3 Sportback (pictured), the Q5, and the Q7 will also join the RS family. The publication learned the Q3s will keep the turbocharged, five-cylinder engine alive rather than adopting a turbo four.

What remains to be seen is how many of the new additions will be sold in the United States. We already know the Q3 Sportback was not developed with the American market in mind, so the odds of seeing the RS variant on our shores are low.