Audi’s smallest crossover yet – the just-revealed Q2 – has big potential in New Zealand.

NO prizes for guessing when Audi New Zealand expects to see Q2, the latest Ingolstadt crossover revealed today at the Geneva motor show.

But if you haven’t twigged, it’ll be in the second quarter of the year, so mark your calendar for April onward.

And don’t mark it it as a maybe. The boss of the Auckland-based operation, Dean Sheed, has wasted no time confirming the fourth member of the Q family for this market.

“We have been working with the factory on this product for some time now and we believe it will strike a chord with the NZ public,” he told Motoring Network today.

“The model is well suited to NZ conditions. It reinforces our existing strong presence with the Q3, Q5 and Q7 family of SUVs and offers a premium alternative in the compact SUV class.”

Where does it sit? At 4190mm in length – that’s around 120mm shorter than the A3 -, 1790mm wide and 1510mm tall, it’ll sit as as an adjunct to the 100mm taller Q3 and challenge the next-generation BMW X2, also expected to around by the time Q2 arrives here, the Mercedes Benz GLA and the current Mini Countryman.

Otherwise the Q2’s broader brief is to join the A1 in attracting a younger clientele to the carmaker. Hence why it has a rakish silhouette and is going to come out in all sorts of bright colours and trims.

The car’s unveiling overnight ended a lot of speculation; remarkably Audi had managed to keep the finished model pretty much under wraps until now.

Show attendees immediately pointed to it having been influenced by the Crosslane Coupe, a concept displayed at the 2012, Paris motor show even though the design has morphed from a two-door SUV coupe to a swoopy five-door.

Audi has identified that Q2 is the first design fully overseen and signed-off by design boss Marc Lichte, who joined in 2014.

You’re not to confuse the car fro being anything other than an Audi, but it is a bit special all the same.

The broad shoulders, sloping roofline and short rear overhangs are his inputs. The brand believes design details like the hexagonal cutout along the car’s waistline, the ‘blade’ floating C-pillar and striking bonnet lines will also enhance youth appeal. That’s why even the grille, though the usual Audi shape, uses ‘egg-crate’ slats. It’s all to give it that touch of extra personality.

The cabin design offers some new ideas, set to also show in the soon-to-be-facelifted third-generation A3, with which in shares parent company Volkswagen's highly versatile MQB underpinnings. The Q2 platform architecture is basicvally identical to that employed by the three-door A3 hatchback.

Audi claims class leading accommodation along with 404 litres of boot space – extending to 1050 litres when the split fold rear seats are folded down.

When it debuts in Europe in the third quarter of this year, it will come with six separate powertrain options. Three are petrol engines - measuring 1.0-, 1.6- and 2.0-litres - and three are diesel; a 1.4-litre and two 2.0-litre units. Audi NZ has yet to indicate which has greatest appeal: potentially it’ll be the 2.0-litre petrol and diesel choices.

Those engines come standard with a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission, whereas a six-speed manual is standard equipment on the rest. Considering the Q2 weighs around 1240kg, it doesn't really need that much thrust to get going.