Audi gives the go ahead to a range topping Q8 SUV/Crossover.

Audi plans to roll out a range-topping SUV called the Q8 that will go on sale before the end of the decade, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Bloomberg.

The coments follow those Stadler made in May, when the executive said Audi was mulling whether to build a Q8 model above the Q7, Audi’s current flagship SUV.

His comments followed BMW’s announcement that it planned to build a new X7 in response to customer demand for an SUV/crossover with three rows of seats.

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Audi’s new SUV would be aimed at markets such as the U.S., China and the Middle East, where large coupe-styled SUVs are in demand.

Audi is "working heavily on this project," said Stadler, who last week at the Detroit auto show unveiled a revamped version of the Q7.

A bigger model "would strengthen the brand. I'm convinced we need the car by 2020," Stadler said.

Audi investment

The new model would be part of Audi's plans to spend 24 billion euros ($27.8 billion) on technology and production in the next five years. Most of the money will go to increase its lineup to 60 cars from 50. That includes the subcompact Q1 crossover due in 2016. When the Q1 arrives Audi's SUV will grow to four models. The others are the compact Q3 compact, midsize Q5 and large Q7.

Audi wants to unseat the BMW brand as the world's largest maker of premium cars by 2020. In 2014 Audi was second to BMW and Mercedes-Benz ranked third.

An expanded SUV offering could help Audi gain ground in the U.S., where it only sells about half as many cars as its two German competitors.

Even so, Audi will face even more competition by the time the new upscale SUV hits showrooms. In addition to BMW adding the X7, Mercedes plans to add its own flagship SUV. Jaguar will also start selling its first crossover, the midsize F-Pace, in 2016.

Despite more models vying for buyers, Audi is upbeat on its prospects in the U.S., where SUVs have continued to gain in popularity and there's space for luxury brands to grow. In the coming years, high-end autos could account for as much as 13 percent of the U.S. market, up from about 10 percent now, Stadler said.

And after outselling its rivals in other major markets, the brand believes it can repeat that feat in the U.S. "We did it in China, we did in Europe. Why shouldn't it happen in the U.S. at some point?" Stadler said.

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