Car companies love a mission statement. With the arrival of the Concept C, Audi’s new one is crystal clear: “radical simplicity.” An all-electric two-seater with a retractable folding hard top, the Concept C is a “progressive interpretation” of the company’s legacy, says Audi—and it’s not hard to see that the TT has factored pretty heavily in that.
But as you pick your way through the messaging—key words here are precision and clarity, as well as a reemphasis on our old friend “Vorsprung durch Technik”—this feels like a substantial reset after a period of aesthetic drift. This isn’t just a piece of conceptual eye candy, then: It’s Audi engaging combat mode in an industry currently beset with challenges.
“Our vision is a call to action for the whole company—and is essential for making our brand truly distinctive once again,” Audi chief creative officer Massimo Frascella explains. “It is the philosophy behind every decision we make, and we aim to apply its principles across the entire organization. We call it ‘the Radical Next.’”
Let’s start with the car itself. Although the e-tron GT set the bar high, Audi’s model range has been light on coherence and drama. The Concept C isn’t quite a first-principles machine, but it definitely strips things back and seeks to stoke some good old-fashioned flames of desire. It’s a terrific looking thing in the flesh: stocky, solid, and charismatic. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, in charge for exactly two years, personally pushed for a new sports car; Frascella used it to push the boundaries in terms of design creativity and manufacturing technique.
Courtesy of Audi
It’s also one for marque historians: Although there’s nothing explicitly retro here, the 1930s Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car, the early-noughties Rosemeyer concept, and more pertinently the original TT are all in the mix, as is Bauhaus and German modernism.
Frascella, it should be noted, is an Italian who rose to prominence as head of design at Jaguar Land Rover, and he is credited with the current Range Rover, a universally admired vehicle (though he also worked on the rather more polarizing Jaguar Type 00.) A lack of adornment and commitment to what car designers are wont to call “monolithic” surfaces are evidently two of his trademarks.
That much is certainly apparent here. The Concept C’s taut, machined look suggests something carved from a giant billet of aluminum, and there’s a strong new vertical front-grille shape with a slim but powerful light signature that echoes the four-ring logo. We reckon it’s best appreciated from an elevated position above the rear three-quarters, though. There’s no rear window, minimal decoration, and slender LED taillights, with three slats in the rear deck to suggest a more emotionally charged, mid-engined configuration. We’re told the windowless, slatted look will make production, and the new car is slated to arrive in 2027.
Courtesy of Audi