simply car design

Audi A4

What happened to the pure and modernist Audi design of the '00s? I've finally seen the new A4 in the flesh, and there are way too many creases and shut lines. The 'tornado line' (in Audi-design speak) is at best a tornado fizzling out; it reminds me more of the now defunct Jaguar S-Type in the way it is sagging in the end. The detailing of the way the taillight takes up the line is quite nice. But from the side the new car looks decidedly less 'dynamic' than its predecessor which in turn had lost much of the purity of the original B6 A4.
And from a business point of view I can see why Audi has its cars designed for larger wheels, but they should realize that most customers wont specify them; so instead of extra profit they have awkward looking cars on the road. So much for image building...

Labels: Audi, design, purity

posted by car design @ 12:16 PM