Audi’s Next Sports Coupe To Take Inspiration From The Original TT

Audi is considering a new model that would revive the spirit of some of its most famous sports cars, and the original TT is cited as a key potential source of inspiration.

As Autocar reports, having retired the TT and R8 models over the past 18 months, Audi is currently without a dedicated two-door sports car in its lineup for the first time in a long time. But CEO Gernot Dolner has suggested that a re-entry into the segment could be part of a broader overhaul of the company’s range and positioning.

Asked at the company’s 2024 financial results presentation whether he would consider adding a sports car back to the brand’s portfolio, Dolner said: “It’s certainly part of the brand’s DNA, and we have to find the right way, time-wise, to integrate it into our portfolio.”

He suggested it would be inappropriate to hint at a portfolio expansion while the company is in the midst of a broad restructuring program that includes laying off 7,500 workers, but said he has a “broad view of where Audi needs to be and where Audi is going—and thinking along those lines, sports cars are an integral part of that setup.”

A New Small Sports Coupe Is On The Way

He emphasized the important role that sports cars have played in Audi’s past, citing the all-wheel-drive Quattro of the 1980s as the car that “truly started a new era of automobiles.” He also highlighted the continued relevance of cars like the second-generation A8 and the A2 supermini to Audi’s current lineup.

But he also mentioned the original TT as a car of particular significance and said that Audi’s new design chief, Massimo Frascella (who arrived in Ingolstadt last year after a long career at JLR), is a particular fan of the late 1990s coupe.

“I talked about that car so much with Massimo. It was an inspiring car for his whole career. When he was a young designer at Giugiaro, he took the 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.”

“I would say he tries to optimize as much as possible, to take away everything you don’t need for expression, and I think that’s a unique talent.”

It’s notable that the minimalism and functional design define the principles of the Bauhaus art movement that heavily influenced the original TT, suggesting that some of that car’s features could be reinterpreted for a new era.

However, Dolner was adamant that “you can’t copy your past” as a carmaker, saying: “You have to analyze what the essence of Audi is and use the essence to come up with something new.”

The TT was launched in 1998 and sold more than 650,000 units across three generations during its 25-year production run, which ended in November 2023 without a successor.

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