A radical Audi electric sports car called the Concept C will makes its global public debut at the Munich Motor Show on Monday September 8.
The Concept C is scheduled for production in 2027 and is being presented as at least a spiritual replacement for the defunct Audi TT, which was built through three generations from 1998 to 2023.
The first model produced under new Audi design chief Massimo Frascella (ex Land Rover and Kia), the Concept C embodies a new “radical simplicity” design philosophy for Audi.
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“Radical simplicity is at the heart of our approach. We achieve clarity by reducing everything to the essential,” Frascella told Automotive News at a media reveal in Milan, Italy.
This philosophy also applies to interiors. The two-seat Concept C is spartan inside compared to current production Audis, with only one digital screen for the driver permanently visible in the dashboard. A second screen in the centre console is foldable.
Frascella described the Concept C as “87 per cent” of the production model. It will influence future Audi models beginning with the next generation Q7 SUV.
The production Concept C will share the same Porsche-Audi developed PPE platform as the upcoming electric Porsche Boxster and Cayman.
The Concept C is drivable and has a single e-motor on the rear axle, but the production car will also be offered in a higher-powered dual motor all-wheel drive quattro specification.
Audi confirmed there would be no ICE version of the production car.
The Concept C’s exterior includes a clear reference in its vertical new face to past models including the 1936 Auto Union Type C (which in part explains the Concept C name) and 2004 Audi A6. The cab-back proportions are a result of the central layout of the battery pack.
Frascella also admitted to influence from the original Bauhaus TT in the design.
The concept employs a two-part folding electric roof that will make it into production. The Audi TT convertible used a cloth roof.
Audi CEO Gernot Dollner told Autocar at the reveal the production car would not be named TT, or R8 as Audi’s recently defunct supercar was called.
“The Concept C is not a successor of the TT. It’s a different segment to the TT – it’s somewhere exactly in the middle between TT and R8,” he insisted. “We will come up with a name once the car hits the road as a serious product.
Dollner also revealed to media only “very low five digit” global sales ambitions for the production car and, despite that, insisted it would make money.
He was clear the Concept C represented a reset for the entire company and not just Audi’s design ethos. He talked about it symbolising a new clarity by which the company will be guided (clarity being the other ‘C’ the Concept C name alludes to).
The VW-owned luxury brand trails arch-rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the luxury sales race with a 12 per cent slump in 2024.
“The foundation for realigning the company has been laid,” Dollner said.
