Spy photos of the heavily camouflaged 2026 Audi Q7/Q7 facelift (particularly the high-performance SQ7 variant) have set forums ablaze, and for good reason. Beneath the swirling black-and-white wrap, the brand new Audi’s front end is wearing a face that appears almost an identical to the outgoing fourth-generation Hyundai Santa Fe (2021–2023, the so-called “last-gen” model that bowed out with the 2022 model yr in lots of markets).
Look past the disguise and the similarities are uncanny. The 2022 Santa Fe featured slim, horizontal upper LED daytime running lights that sat high on the fenders, flowing right into a wide, cascading grille with a particular parametric jewel pattern and chrome surround. Directly below sat larger principal headlight units integrated into the bumper, making a clean split-headlight look that was elegant yet assertive. Fast-forward to the camouflaged 2026 SQ7 prototypes, and the layout is virtually the identical: narrow upper DRL “eyebrows,” a broad octagonal grille with horizontal emphasis, and lower principal headlight clusters framed by vertical air intakes. Even the hood shut-line and the best way the grille tucks under the vanguard mirror the Santa Fe’s proportions with startling accuracy.
The resemblance isn’t subtle. Side-by-side images circulating on Reddit, AudiWorld, and GermanCarForum have users doing double-takes, with comments starting from “Did Audi just Photoshop a Santa Fe front onto the Q7 prototype?” to “That’s literally the 2022 Santa Fe grille with Quattro badges.” The wheel arches, the flat shoulder line, and the general wide-and-low stance only reinforce the visual overlap.
For context, the 2022 Santa Fe was widely praised for finally giving Hyundai a genuinely premium-looking front end within the mid-size segment, one that would sit in a Lexus dealership without raising eyebrows. Now Audi, a brand that charges triple the value and has built its repute on teutonic restraint and originality, appears to be borrowing that exact recipe for its flagship seven-seat SUV.
Whether that is conscious homage, lazy convergence, or just two design teams arriving at the identical solution in a wind-tunnel-dominated era, the result is similar: a six-figure German performance SUV wearing the face of a $34,000 Korean family hauler that’s already headed to the used-car lots.
So we’ll ask you directly: when the camouflage finally comes off in 2026, will this be a clever, confident evolution for the Q7 family, or an embarrassing case of a luxury marque copying a mainstream design that’s barely two years old? Is the brand new Audi Q7/SQ7 front end successful that cleverly modernizes the lineup, or a miss that makes the 4 Rings look suspiciously like they shopped on the Hyundai parts bin?
The comments are open, let the roasting (or defending) begin.
Audi SQ7 spy photo from @Wilcoblok on Instagram
2022 Hyundai Santa Fe
This Article First Appeared At www.autospies.com
