Audi has unveiled the Concept C, which will preview the design of its future products as well as a new interior experience, according to the German manufacturer. Its design is inspired by the Auto Union Type C race car, and aims to deliver a reduction to essential elements and a “commitment to geometric clarity,” it said.
“Radical simplicity is at the heart of our approach. We achieve clarity by reducing everything to the essential,” said Audi chief creative officer Massimo Frascella.
While the Concept C introduces traits and features which will be rolled out to the Audi product line-up, it also serves to preview a production model that will be almost identical and enter production in two years, Frascella told Autocar. “The car that you see here is a preview of a production car – almost literally,” Frascella said, confirming that the production model is expected to launch in 2027.
Though the Concept C arrives after the TT has been discontinued, the eventual EV sports car is not intended as a successor to the distinct two-door model. “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. We will come up with a name once the car hits the road as a serious product,” Frascella said.
The production car to emerge from the Concept C will be EV-only, and there are no plans for an internal combustion-engined version alongside it, said CEO Gernot Döllner. “We believe the electric drivetrain is a perfect fit. It’s not a car for the race track – it’s a car for country roads, for performance driving,” Döllner told the publication.
It adds that the Concept C is of “mid-engined” proportions, which result from a centrally-located battery pack, a layout it shares with the upcoming Porsche Boxster and Cayman EV successor. This is for the battery, the heaviest part of an EV, to help attain the mid-engined balance and packaging of a ICE-powered car, and to allow a low seating position compared to a “skateboard” underfloor battery location.
The Concept C has been said to employ a single drive motor for the rear wheels, though the eventual production car will have a dual-motor configuration in its top variant, according to Autocar.
Here, the Concept C has been shown to use a retractable hard roof, which is an Audi first. Inside, the cabin of the Concept C also carries through the theme of simplicity as applied to the exterior, where the dashboard is home to a 10.4-inch screen that retracts into the centre console.
This is to ensure that the technology provided is close to hand but “never dominant,” and the balance between traditional physical controls and digital technology means “the controls are exactly where they are expected to be,” said Audi. Meanwhile, the steering wheel of the Concept C is round, rather than the sqaured-off shape used in recent Audi production models.
Elsewhere in the cabin of the Concept C, physical controls have been made from anodised aluminium for “a tactile experience that reflects mechanical quality,” while being engineered to offer the “unmistakeable Audi click” when operated, according to the publication.
