Wolfgang Egger outlines Audi's future design strategy

Audi is shifting its design strategy as it changes the way it designs and develops its cars.

The carmaker's head of design Wolfgang Egger believes that a closer cohesion of the car's exterior and interior will create a ‘seamless entity' to help differentiate its models.

The first example of the strategy is Audi's latest show car, the Crosslane Coupe, revealed at the Paris motor show in September. The Crosslane's cabin is designed around the driver, with its clean surfaces and a reduced number of controls meaning distractions are at a minimum.

The different material and technology combinations in the concept are an example of how Audi wants to display more technology in its designs, with the relationship being key to the new language.

The ‘Multimaterial Space Frame' – developed by designers and lightweight construction experts – emphasizes this and is seen in the single frame grille, hood air intakes, at the sills and A-pillars and a load-bearing carbon strip in the cockpit.

Egger is encouraging the Ingolstadt studio to copy the Munich studio's example, where product and car designers work together. The Interior, Exterior and Color and Trim design teams will work closely together to develop a car holistically. The Crosslane, the product of both studios, was developed using ideas from different teams, leading to the final concept design seen in Paris.

Model lines will be given a more distinctive appearance, one example being the Audi Q range, with its single-frame grille becoming more three-dimensional to emphasize the car's robust appearance.

By Rufus Thompson