Audi TT Offroad concept points to new TT crossover (2014)

By Ollie Kew

Motor Industry

19 April 2014 18:06

Audi has officially revealed the name of its SUV-like four-door coupe concept car to be ‘TT Offroad’. But why the TT name? CAR caught up with Audi CEO Rupert Stadler to ask the big question?

Because the TT family is expanding, says Stadler. Asked why this is this is the first of several recent Audi crossovers to get the TT name, the Audi chief answered: ‘This car is more closely aligned with the new TT’s styling. It is a coupe, not a shooting brake estate [as per the Allroad Shooting Brake seen in Detroit].

‘This car is more stylish – it has muscle. The car is itself ‘showing off’. This is our designers showing ideas for expanding the TT family. The new Mk3 TT coupe is already here, and a roadster will follow; that is a given. So, we wanted to try up to four bodystyle ideas for the TT family, and with this car [the TT Offroad concept], this is what we have now’.

Asked if the TT Offroad was more likely to see production than the three-door Allroad Shooting Brake concept, Stadler replied: ‘Now we will wait to see the reaction, and then decide which to build. But we want a three-car family for the TT. It looks cool, no?’

Sacrilegious as it may seem to take another sports car name and jack it up for the SUV-loving masses, it’s difficult to disagree with Stadler. In the metal the car, even on gauche 21in alloys and in bright yellow, the Offroad does look like another must-have Audi. From the rear-three-quarter angle it's reminiscent of the Porsche Macan – a lower, sleeker take on existing sports utility vehicles.

Rear headroom is very tight with the concept car’s fixed-headrest rear chairs, and there’s no bulkhead between the chairs and the boot, allowing the concept to perform its downhill ski-carrying party piece. With practicality niggles ironed out for production, the TT Offroad could be a success in the making for Audi.

After all, the original TT sold not because it was a great drive, but because it was fashionable. Crossover SUVs with premium badges are 2014 and beyond’s must-have accessory, so an evolution of the TT into four-door family car is a consumer-led inevitability, it appears.

By Ollie Kew