Original TT Could Inspire New Audi Sports Coupé
Audi is hinting at a potential return to the sports coupé market, with the original TT serving as a significant source of inspiration for a new halo model.
After retiring the TT and R8 supercar in the last 18 months, Audi is currently without a dedicated two-door sports car for the first time in decades. However, CEO Gernot Döllner has suggested that a re-entry into this segment could be part of a broader restructuring of the company’s product line-up.
When asked if he would consider reintroducing a sports car to the brand’s portfolio during the company’s 2024 financial results presentation, Döllner responded, “For sure. That’s part of the brand’s DNA, and we have to find the right way, timing wise, to integrate it into our portfolio.”
He indicated that discussing portfolio expansion wasn’t immediate given the company’s ongoing restructuring, which includes 7,500 job cuts. However, he added, “sports cars are an integral part of such a set-up.” He emphasized their historical importance, citing the 1980’s four-wheel-drive Quattro as a car that “really started a new era of automotive.” He also highlighted the continued relevance of cars like the aluminium-based second-generation A8 and the economical A2 supermini in Audi’s current line-up.
But the original TT, in particular, held significance; and Audi’s new design boss, Massimo Frascella, is a great admirer of the late-1990s coupé.
“I’ve discussed that car so much with Massimo…When he was a young designer at Giugiaro, he took a day off when the TT was launched in Italy, went to the Audi dealer in Milan and sat in the showroom for a day just looking at the car.”
Frascella’s involvement in the revival of the Land Rover Defender, which acknowledges its 4×4 legacy by embracing a modern, minimalist design, made him a strategic choice at Audi.
Notably, minimalism and functional design are key aspects of the Bauhaus art movement that greatly influenced the original TT, suggesting that these defining characteristics could be re-interpreted for a modern sports car.
However, Döllner was emphatic that a car manufacturer “can’t copy your past.” He elaborated by saying that it is essential to analyze “what the essence of Audi is and use the essence to come up with something absolutely new.” He did, however, consider the possibility of reviving some historic model names.
The TT was produced for 25 years, starting in 1998, and the three generations sold over 650,000 units through November 2023 before production ceased with no direct successor in the works.
Even if Audi is planning a return to the sports car segment, a launch isn’t expected soon. The company’s priorities—after a turbulent 2024 with reduced sales volumes and struggling profit margins—are to bring a “future-proof” software architecture to market, benefit from Volkswagen Group’s new joint venture with Rivian, and successfully ramp up production of essential new models (including the A5, A6, Q3, and Q5) in 2025. After this, according to Döllner, Audi can then “talk about the right portfolio in these niche areas.”
When asked if Audi might unveil plans in this sector, Döllner replied, “Not yet.”
Asked whether Audi could offer a dedicated sports car with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, rather than as a pure EV, Döllner said he is “open-minded” but suggested that electric power makes more sense in an “everyday use” context.
“There’s so much uncertainty that all this discussion delivers to the market that I would say in the long-term, in the sports car segment, there will be a place for fully electric sports cars. Not for the track but for crossing the Alps and having fun on a country road, there’s nothing to say against an electric car. You have a coffee break, the cars recharge and everything is perfect.”
Döllner discussed the need for Audi to utilize “synergies” within the Volkswagen Group, especially at the lower end of the EV line-up. He further said that there’s also room for technical collaboration with Audi’s premium siblings in more niche segments.
Döllner stopped short of giving any technical plans, but any compact Audi sports car would be a logical candidate to share components with Porsche’s upcoming electric 718 Boxster/Cayman.
