As one of the many brands facing a downturn in sales amid increased competition from Chinese rivals, Audi is facing a number of big decisions to replicate its previous success.
Speaking to German publication Bild, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner was candid in detailing the brand’s struggles, saying: “I don’t want to beat around the bush, we have to get back on track now.”
“I think we’re passing the low point,” the executive added, with Bild noting it expects to cut 7500 jobs by 2029.
Key to Audi’s resurgence will be a sports car, something Döllner bills as “an identity builder”, while those inside the brand are calling it the “TT Moment 2.0”.
“I have a gut feeling that we are on the verge of such a TT moment.”
The Audi TT was a revolution for the brand when it launched in 1998, based on the underpinnings of the Volkswagen Golf but with a sportier design and purpose. At the time, it injected life into the brand and became one of its hallmark models.
That ended in November 2023 when the final and 662,762th example of the model rolled off the production line, having experienced a decline in sales towards the end of its run.
According to Döllner, the spirit of the TT and its now-defunct R8 supercar sibling will be channeled for Audi’s new flagship, an electric vehicle set to be revealed in September.
“[The new model will be] a highly emotional sports car – not a TT, not an R8, but something in between.”
In June, the executive hinted to UK publication Autocar the brand was “thinking about everything…we are car guys, let yourself be surprised,” when asked about a return of the TT and R8.
“There is room for Audi in such fields. We are evaluating different options but it’s a little too early to talk about that.”
The Audi TT was always twinned with the contemporary Volkswagen Golf, though it’s not known if that trend will continue for the new upcoming model.
A new ninth-generation Golf (Mk9) is expected to launch in 2028 or 2029 as an EV, underpinned by the Volkswagen Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). It’s possible Audi’s new model will also run on SSP.
Likewise, it was expected the R8 would return as an SSP-based EV, however Autocar reported in March that it would likely return in 2027 with the same architecture as the Temerario.
This would align the third-gen R8 with its predecessors, which were twinned with the Lamborghini Gallardo (first-gen) and the Huracan (second-gen).
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