With changing legislation and many automakers suffering enormous losses from the EV pullback, Audi‘s new electric sports car seemed in doubt not long ago, but the company’s CEO, Gernot Döllner, has confirmed that Porsche is still helping develop the new arrival, expected to be a design landmark in the same way that the TT was. A few weeks ago, he said that the production version of the Concept C would arrive within the next two years, comprehensively denying rumors that the electric sports car had been scrapped, and now he’s been even more specific, saying the car will go into production in 2027.
Audi Concept C Will Enter Production Next Year
Audi
The news came during Audi’s annual conference, the same one at which it teased the return of the A2 as a compact crossover. Normally, when an automaker says a new car is coming in the next two years, that’s the absolute earliest at which we should expect to see it in a best-case scenario, but now that Döllner has committed to a 2027 production start, we can expect teasers and technical information to start dripping out of Ingolstadt over the next year. Of course, the sports car may only go into production at the end of 2027, but it’s still good news and means we can expect Audi’s design language to change in other models, too, including that forthcoming A2. Designed under the keen eye of Chief Creative Officer Massimo Frascella, the Concept C will mark a step change in both the way Audi products look and are interacted with.
Related: 5 Coolest Features Of Audi’s New Concept C
Frascella has been very outspoken about the over-digitization of the car cabin, saying that tactility is “very important” to how customers perceive products, adding that “big screens are not the best experience,” saying that they’re just “technology for the sake of technology.” The concept embodies this approach with a conservatively sized center display on the dash that disappears from view when not in use. Hopefully, the production version of the concept will be just as tech-shy. Still, the new sports car is not guaranteed to be a hit.
Audi’s New Sports Car Will Be Unique
The Concept C has some similarities to the Audi RSQ concept that starred in I, Robot alongside Will Smith, with a very simple, restrained approach to its design. The body blends straight edges and curves with aplomb, and its narrow headlights and taillights force onlookers to focus on the car itself. The upright, rectangular front ‘grille’ element, however, calls to mind the mustache of Charlie Chaplin (and a certain infamous German dictator), but the proportions are good, and the electrically retractable targa-style top should be a hit. Inside, the clean interior features physical steering wheel controls, something many automakers have regrettably moved away from.
Hopefully, the final product entering production next year will also allow for analog interaction and be similarly efficient in its design. As for performance, single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor AWD variants are possible, albeit not yet confirmed for the production model. The Concept C will be positioned between the R8 supercar and the TT, effectively replacing both of those discontinued cars and neither of them at the same time. What it will be named is a mystery, but given that production starts next year, more info won’t take long to arrive.
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