One of the guilty pleasures of buying a luxury car has always been playing around in the configurator. Fancy paint? Check. Special leather? Of course. An obscure steering wheel option that you’ll never notice after the first week of ownership? Why not—it’s only money. Audi, however, thinks this buffet-style approach has gone too far.
CEO Gernot Döllner recently told Auto Express that the brand is gearing up for a serious decluttering of its options lists. The reason? Simplicity—and not just for the bean counters in Ingolstadt. According to Döllner, Audi customers can expect fewer but better choices. Take steering wheels, for example: right now, the Volkswagen Group catalog has more than 100 different variations. Going forward, Audi thinks it only needs three or four. That’s not cost-cutting for the sake of it; the goal is to funnel the savings into higher-quality touchpoints.
Chief creative officer Massimo Frascella spelled it out: “We can build better quality elements because we’ve reduced.” Translation: instead of endless minor trim packages and option bundles, Audi will invest in making the stuff you actually touch—the steering wheel, the switchgear, the controls—feel as premium as the Four Rings badge on the grille.
That philosophy is already visible in the Concept C, Audi’s latest design study revealed in Milan. A baby R8 by way of Ingolstadt’s new “strive for clarity” mantra, the Concept C pairs clean, essential lines with old-school Audi attention to detail. The steering wheel badge is real metal, not plastic. The physical controls use anodized aluminum. The climate system gets its own separate controls—yes, touch-sensitive, but mercifully not buried in a touchscreen menu. Best of all, the Concept C even hides its central display when not in use, a throwback to some of Audi’s best interiors of the 2010s.
Whether all of this trickles down to the production version, due in 2027, remains to be seen. But the Concept C signals a welcome reset. With rear-wheel drive, roadster credentials, and a minimalist cabin, it looks like a spiritual successor to the R8—just in a more accessible package.
Audi’s new focus isn’t just about interiors and sports car concepts. The brand is also reshaping its lineup. The A1 supermini and Q2 subcompact crossover are both headed for the chopping block, leaving the A3 as the new entry point into Audi ownership. But there’s a twist: in 2026, Audi will roll out a fresh entry-level EV to cover the gap.
The broader message is clear: fewer distractions, fewer compromises, and fewer cheap placeholders. Audi wants every car in its showroom to feel like it belongs in a luxury brand lineup. If the Concept C is anything to go by, the strategy could pay off—because sometimes, less really is more.
Source: Auto Express