Pictured by motor1.com reportedly at the Nürburgring, the prototype betrays its sporty identity by virtue of the Audi Sport badged brake calipers, larger alloy wheels, a seemingly lowered ride height and quad exhausts, as well as a darker take on the honeycomb grille.

Despite sporting a TDI badge on the bootlid, the SQ8 will reportedly come powered by the concept Q8’s hybrid drivetrain, which combines a 3.0-litre TFSI petrol engine with an electric motor for a total system output of 350kW/700Nm. In concept guise, Audi claimed a top speed of 250km/h and 0-100km/h in 5.4 seconds, with a combined fuel consumption of 2.3-litres/100km and all electric range of 60km.

A new alternative claim by Australia’s caradvice.com.au however has alleged that the SQ8 could in fact live up to the diesel designation, by being powered by the same 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 used in the Audi SQ7and Bentley Bentayga Diesel, which makes 320kW/900Nm.

With the Q8 having made its world debut earlier this month and set to enter production at the same plant in Bratislava, Slovakia that makes the Volkswagen Touareg and Q7 during the third quarter, expect the SQ8 to make its world unveiling towards the end of 2018 with the RS Q8 following soon after. Sales of both performance variants will kick-off next year.