Slimmer Q7 is still a motoring heavyweight.

As a result of this huge loss of weight which equates to around 50 stone or a concert grand piano as Audi put it the new slimline Q7 is a much more fuel efficient premium car with its quattro four wheel drive system.

Much of the weight loss has been due to aluminium being more widely used in the body structure of the vehicle and the new model looks much slimmer than the previous rather bloated Q7 which was a popular vehicle in this market sector where the competition includes Range Rover Sport and the BMW X5.

With prices starting at £50,340 on the road the new Q7 will initially be available with a 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel engine and an eight speed automatic transmission which produces a combined fuel consumption of nearly 50mpg with CO2 emissions of 153g/km plus a top speed of 145mph and a zero to 62mph time of 6.5 seconds.

Other power units will follow including the first plug-in hybrid from Audi which will also be the world’s first diesel plug-in hybrid with quattro all wheel drive in the premium SUV sector that will return the equivalent of 166mpg and less than 50g/km of CO2 emissions.

Inside the cabin which in UK specification models features three rows of leather clad seats with the third row having a user friendly powered folding mechanism with a total of 770 litres of luggage space available with seven passengers on board that can be increased to 1,955 litres if only the front seats are occupied.

Comprehensive standard specification includes MMI navigation, Audi connect, parking system plus, powered tailgate with heated and electrically controlled front seats and S line versions have all weather LED headlights and 20 inch alloy wheels.