Audi’s head of sales says the R8 is an icon but “icons of the past aren’t necessarily icons of the future”
With Audi’s commitment to electric vehicles, there are a lot of changes happening in Ingolstadt. That leaves sports cars like the mid-engine R8 and the TT in trouble
Speaking to Top Gear magazine, Hildegard Wortmann, the brand’s global chief of sales, said that the industry is changing. Customers are excited by new segments, which explains why things like crossover coupes are so popular these days and also why the R8 might not make the leap into the future. Not as is, anyway.
“The R8 is an icon of our brand. But icons of the past aren’t necessarily icons of the future,” Wortmann told the outlet. “A successor to the R8 won’t just be an R8 with an electric motor. It needs to be an R8 but different.”
The executive continued to say that the same is true for the TT, adding that although the car is “authentic and highly emotional,” customers are changing and the world has “gone away from roadsters.”
Wortmann says that although the R8 and the TT have to change and that people are moving away from those segments, fun never dies.
“Audi has always done emotional models,” said Wortmann. “See our concept and vision cars. We have lots of ideas.”
Certainly, between concepts like the Vision GT for Gran Turismo and the PB18, and real cars like the e-tron GT, Audi seems to still have sports cars on its mind. And with its investment, alongside Porsche, in the upcoming PPE platform, there shouldn’t be too many worries as to the performance of upcoming Audis.
Although the casket isn’t closed on the R8, the best Audi boss Marcus Duesmann could manage to say about an electric R8 in February was that “We could do it if we wanted to.”
