What is the future of Audi's style?

On the occasion of Audi Sport’s 40th anniversary, Marc Lichte, Head of Design at Audi, shares his vision of the future of the brand with the four rings.

Talking about Audi Sport brings back the most glorious moments of motor racing with the fantastic and heroic Quattro saga. In the mid-1980s, Audi introduced four-wheel-drive technology from agricultural machinery into its sports models and later in competition. At that time, all-wheel drive primarily helped to get out of muddy paths, not to carve turns at over 150 km/h or to accelerate a car from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds. This technology became widespread, and the advent of electric technology has given it a new lease on life by allowing the placement of one or more motors on each axle, driving all four wheels without the need for a heavy and bulky driveshaft.

The Quattro legacy

Before sharing his vision of the future style of Audi, Marc Lichte pays tribute to this legacy. “Today, in front of me, on my desk, the Audi Sport Quattro and the Audi RS e-tron GT are precisely side by side,” he admits. The Audi RS e-tron GT features many elements adapted from the Sport Quattro during the design process. This electric Gran Turismo forges strong links in Audi’s history, and for me, in its iconography, it’s the Audi Sport Quattro as I first saw it 40 years ago—transposed into a new electric era. Therefore, tradition provides an important impulse for the future.”

Beyond this technology, the Head of Design at Audi is also committed to conveying a certain vision of sporty design. “For me, what is truly unique is that the forms introduced on legendary Audis like the original Quattro or the Quattro Sport—muscle, wide fender flares—can be found on all current models—and I can promise—that they will appear on all future RS models,” he promises. The RS design is so deeply ingrained in Audi’s DNA that we could continue reinventing it without ever diluting its essence.”

Audi on a responsible path

But Marc Lichte emphasizes a clear point. A car is appreciated from the outside but experienced from the inside. “Before creating the first sketch, we ask ourselves: what do our customers want to experience with and inside the vehicle? Prioritizing the interior as the main focus is a completely new process.” This is certainly a way to highlight the efforts made by the manufacturer to improve its cabins, especially given past criticisms of the simple finishes of its models before merging with Volkswagen. “More than style, comfort, or material richness, the sustainability and footprint of these materials remain at the core of our concerns,” he insists. “For me, sustainability is primarily the result of reducing. In the future, the interior will be significantly more minimalist, with partially recycled materials used, and their style will create a sense of maximum quality and a warm atmosphere. In short, we are reinventing this space from scratch.”

And in conclusion, Marc Lichte recalls the very essence of automotive pleasure: “For me, a car must be visually so attractive and make me vibrate when driving that the arrival aspect becomes almost secondary. That is the feeling I want to put into a tangible form for our customers.”