Paris Motor Show
Audi A1 Sportback
Audi A1 Sportback
Audi’s A1 Sportback is another savvy product choice in the current economic and ecological climate where big SUVs are increasingly snubbed in favour of more subdued cars with similar capabilities. The premium marque is aware that the larger Q7-type vehicles are losing popularity on European roads and that a mini-SUV may well be a viable take on the future of urban mobility.
The A1 is all about understated luxury, an area in which Audi is exceptionally skilled. Sustainability is in the detail with the use of lightweight material and a reduction in elements within the interior. Audi doesn’t indulge in show cars for the sake of it, so the design will heavily influence the 2010 A1 which will appear in both three and five-door variants with a hybrid planned for 2011.
Wallpaper spoke to Wolfgang Egger, ex-Alfa Romeo designer and the Head of Audi Design Group for the last year, at the Paris Show.
Tell us about the A1 Sportback.
This is our dream for the mobility in the city in the next year. We wanted to conserve the Audi likeness and our very emotional design in a small compact car, without doing retro design.
How have you made the car green?
We didn’t just put a green stripe on the car to say it’s an eco car. For instance the grille is covered with a transparent piece because an electric car doesn’t need air. At the same time we combined this with the chrome to give the right emotion. It works like jewellery on the car. We want to join the preciousness in the detail with the ecological aspect.
How has this translated to the interior?
We were inspired by a woman’s expensive handbag where you must have beauty, and it is all about the detail. So inside it is all about the pedals, the metal and materials. The seating communicates lightweight by the mesh that covers the seats and this combination adds an additional value.
What does this car say about the brand?
The eco future is connected to a new kind of luxury. It means making the car smaller but with more quality. It’s not about decoration but a reduction of design, with more emotion in the detail with erotic surfaces. It is about how we work materials. The details are cleaner and you can enjoy more with less clutter.
www.audi.com
Audi A1 Sportback
Audi’s A1 Sportback is another savvy product choice in the current economic and ecological climate where big SUVs are increasingly snubbed in favour of more subdued cars with similar capabilities. The premium marque is aware that the larger Q7-type vehicles are losing popularity on European roads and that a mini-SUV may well be a viable take on the future of urban mobility.
The A1 is all about understated luxury, an area in which Audi is exceptionally skilled. Sustainability is in the detail with the use of lightweight material and a reduction in elements within the interior. Audi doesn’t indulge in show cars for the sake of it, so the design will heavily influence the 2010 A1 which will appear in both three and five-door variants with a hybrid planned for 2011.
Wallpaper spoke to Wolfgang Egger, ex-Alfa Romeo designer and the Head of Audi Design Group for the last year, at the Paris Show.
Tell us about the A1 Sportback.
This is our dream for the mobility in the city in the next year. We wanted to conserve the Audi likeness and our very emotional design in a small compact car, without doing retro design.
How have you made the car green?
We didn’t just put a green stripe on the car to say it’s an eco car. For instance the grille is covered with a transparent piece because an electric car doesn’t need air. At the same time we combined this with the chrome to give the right emotion. It works like jewellery on the car. We want to join the preciousness in the detail with the ecological aspect.
How has this translated to the interior?
We were inspired by a woman’s expensive handbag where you must have beauty, and it is all about the detail. So inside it is all about the pedals, the metal and materials. The seating communicates lightweight by the mesh that covers the seats and this combination adds an additional value.
What does this car say about the brand?
The eco future is connected to a new kind of luxury. It means making the car smaller but with more quality. It’s not about decoration but a reduction of design, with more emotion in the detail with erotic surfaces. It is about how we work materials. The details are cleaner and you can enjoy more with less clutter.
www.audi.com
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cars 10 Oct 2008
Highlights from the Paris Motor Show 2008
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