“So an A8 wouldn’t be just a stretched version of this, just with a longer wheelbase and roof, but it will take the principle of this design and it will be applied to the car [in a way] that is appropriate.”
Reinvention inside and out
The Concept C’s resemblance to Audi’s seminal sports coupé is no coincidence, the launch of the original Bauhaus-style TT having been a formative moment for Frascella.
“In 1998, when the first Audi TT arrived at a dealership in Turin, I took a day off work to just look at the car in peace,” he said. “I was there for hours, looking at the car from every angle, touching every surface.
“The staff probably thought I was crazy. But for me, the TT was more than just a car. It was a message: you don’t need to shout to be heard. You don’t need excess to make a statement. You just need clarity. And, more importantly, the courage to follow it.”
Clarity and simplicity, then, are themes that will define Audi’s future production cars – making good on Frascella’s initial pledge to usher in a “timeless and sophisticated design language”.
This thinking will also apply to the interiors of the new cars, as showcased by the Concept C’s minimalist, driver-focused cockpit.
Audi has fabricated the physical controls from anodised aluminium to give “a tactile experience that reflects mechanical quality”, and has engineered them to ensure they make “the unmistakable ‘Audi click'” when operated.
A foldable 10.4in screen in the centre console ensures that technology “is always close by yet never dominant”, providing “information in an intuitive way and in context, tailored to every situation”.
Overall, Audi said, the balance between traditional physical controls and ‘shy’ digital technology means “the controls are exactly where they are expected to be”.
Meanwhile, the multifunction steering wheel is round rather than squared-off as it is in Audi’s current models, and the Audi badge in the middle is made from real metal, emphasising the company’s renewed focus on authenticity and physical appeal.
