Photo: Audi
There aren't that many complaints you can have about the Audi range, but that's because it all feels like one design scaled to fit into every different segment.
Despite constant negative feedback from the press, the market response seemed to be rather positive, so the Ingolstadt carmaker continued down the same path. What's even worse, the disease seems to have been contagious as its neighbors from the South and North West - we're talking here about BMW and Mercedes-Benz - began doing more or less the same thing.
Now, it seems Audi is ready to pull the plug on this copy-cat method of coming up with new models and should instill some diversity in its range. How much? Well, the most recent models don't encourage us to hope for anything spectacular, but we guess baby steps are better than no steps at all.
“This [repetition] design process was used to make Audis more recognizable in newer and emerging markets,” Rupert Stadler, Audi chief executive told British outlet Autocar. “Now we are well known in major markets like China, we can begin to change this philosophy and give each car its own look.”
Yup, Audi is well known in any market as that brand that makes good cars but suffers from a severe lack of imagination. The top brass seems to promise that's about to change, and with the e-tron range of electric cars just around the corner, that's bound to bring some fresh air into Audi's design department. Whether it'll spread to the ICE models as well or not remains to be seen.
“We recognize that there is a place for more differentiation now," design boss Marc Lichte added. "Since our cars are in production for a minimum of six years, in today’s world I think each model should have its own design to be attractive for this long time.”
Will Audi actually surprise us with innovative designs from now on, or is this just nicely-wrapped PR talk to pretend like you're giving the people what they want while you continue doing things the same way? We guess we'll see over the coming years, but to be fair, we wouldn't hold our breath over it.
Now, it seems Audi is ready to pull the plug on this copy-cat method of coming up with new models and should instill some diversity in its range. How much? Well, the most recent models don't encourage us to hope for anything spectacular, but we guess baby steps are better than no steps at all.
“This [repetition] design process was used to make Audis more recognizable in newer and emerging markets,” Rupert Stadler, Audi chief executive told British outlet Autocar. “Now we are well known in major markets like China, we can begin to change this philosophy and give each car its own look.”
Yup, Audi is well known in any market as that brand that makes good cars but suffers from a severe lack of imagination. The top brass seems to promise that's about to change, and with the e-tron range of electric cars just around the corner, that's bound to bring some fresh air into Audi's design department. Whether it'll spread to the ICE models as well or not remains to be seen.
“We recognize that there is a place for more differentiation now," design boss Marc Lichte added. "Since our cars are in production for a minimum of six years, in today’s world I think each model should have its own design to be attractive for this long time.”
Will Audi actually surprise us with innovative designs from now on, or is this just nicely-wrapped PR talk to pretend like you're giving the people what they want while you continue doing things the same way? We guess we'll see over the coming years, but to be fair, we wouldn't hold our breath over it.
Google News