Audi concept previewing new sports car and design direction leaked

An Audi concept car, which is said to preview the brand’s new design language, as well as EV sports car, has been leaked ahead of its debut next week at events in Milan and at the Munich motor show.

The image above was used briefly as the cover photo on Audi Canada’s Facebook page. It was taken down shortly thereafter, but has been reposted by Wilco Blok on their Instagram account.

The, as yet, unnamed coupe has a blocky profile with slim head- and tail-lights. From a teaser video posted over the weekend, the concept will have louvres in place of a rear windscreen.

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Over the weekend Audi started teasing the new concept car on its social media accounts under the tag line “Strive for clarity”, and featuring images of the original TT, the 1991 Avus quattro concept (below), and the Auto Union Type C and D Grand Prix race cars from the 1930s.

The new concept is the first publicly displayed vehicle penned under the aegis of design boss Massimo Frascella, who was appointed to the role in early 2024 after 12 years at Jaguar Land Rover.

In June Gernot Döllner, Audi’s CEO, told Autocar the concept “would look to the future and the strengths of Audi design, for clarity and to bring that to the future, not copying the past”.

Mr Döllner also the brand “won’t show studies anymore” and that “every concept we show will have a product decision behind it”.

This has lead to speculation the upcoming concept is based on the upcoming EV-only Porsche 718. Mr Döllner hinted the new electric sports car will be positioned somewhere between the TT and R8, both of which were axed in the last year or two.

The original TT concept (below) made its debut at the 1995 Frankfurt motor show. Three years later it became a production car based on the contemporary Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3.

While the production TT kept all of the concept’s Bauhaus-inspired design, the coupe’s roofline was flattened out and the vehicle gained an extra side window in the process.

Many of the TT’s styling elements, including its distinctive wheel arches, headlights, grille and body surfacing were applied to the A2 hatch, and in a watered-down form on the second-generation A6 and A4.

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