“Radical simplicity is at the heart of our approach,” says Audi’s new Chief Creative Officer, Massimo Frascella of the Audi Concept C unveiled in Milan overnight. A striking minimalist design that draws on the brand’s past to create a bold vision for the future.

It draws unashamedly on the brand’s racing past from the likes of the Auto Union Type C race car as well as calling to mind elements of the groundbreaking Audi TT concept, which went from starring at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in 1995 to fully-fledged series production just three years later – practically unchanged.

That the Audi Concept C is destined to go the same way is not a matter for debate, with its debut marked as a milestone event for the brand and a preview of what’s to come.

“The phase of taking stock is over,” says Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, “Now is the time to look to the future and pick up speed.” 

“Our history is marked by bold leaps in innovation and state-of-the-art technology combined with an uncompromising focus on clarity in design,” he says.

“The way we design our vehicles is the way we will shape our company … The foundation for realigning the company has been laid.”

The Concept C is an all-electric two-seat sports car that features an electrically retractable hardtop, that when in place, safeguards the integrity of the solid outline, while allowing the dual personality of open top motoring. 

The design elements of the Concept C are at once new and yet unmistakably familiar. Its shape is pure and ‘unadulterated’ – and just as the TT was once described as having been ‘carved out of a solid chunk of billet’, so too the Concept C is characterised by its solid simplicity. The Audi quattro blisters are obvious, housing the Avus-inspired wheel treatment. A smooth, sculpted body shape, lavished in a paint treatment called ‘Titanium’ is reminiscent of the brand’s race cars of the 1930s.

The louvre treatment in place of the rear window also harks back to the brand’s celebrated Auto Union racers and even cars like the Type 52, while the Singleframe grille treatment is obviously inspired by likes of the Audi Union Type C race car from 1936 and Audi says, the third-generation Audi A6 from 2004. 

The Concept C also features a new light signature using four horizontally arranged elements in each headlight and rear light that Audi says will come to ‘define Audi’s visual identity during both day and night, ensuring an unmistakable presence on the road’.

Inside, the minimalist theme continues, pared right back to the absolute essentials. Clean lines and simple geometric shapes along with a retro feel feel that includes physical switchgear fashioned from anodised aluminium – a tactile delight that also features that solid ‘Audi click’. Natural materials, cool pure metals that echo the exterior colour and technology that while present, is subtly integrated so as not to dominate the design. 

There are simple, haptic controls on the steering wheel and centre console, and that 10.4-inch centre display for example is foldable, in what is perhaps a nod to the simple folding plate in the original TT which covered the radio and stereo controls when not in use to retain the uncluttered inter look.

Certainly there are numerous reminders of the original Audi TT here in the pared back design that is at once functional and yet striking in its elegant simplicity.

“We achieve clarity by reducing everything to the essential,” says Massimo Frascella.

“We live in a world that is often shrill, fast-paced, and overloaded. Almost everything is overdone,” he says of the concept which is living proof that ‘less is more’.

This ‘return’ to the things that matter and are essential not just to design but to the vehicle itself are important to Frascella, who admits to having been deeply affected by the Audi TT when it first arrived on the world stage.

“In 1998, when the first Audi TT arrived at a dealership in Turin, I took a day off work to just look at the car in peace,” he recalls.

“I was there for hours, looking at the car from every angle, touching every surface. The staff probably thought I was crazy. But for me, the TT was more than just a car. It was a message: you don’t need to shout to be heard. You don’t need excess to make a statement. You just need clarity. And, more importantly, the courage to follow it.”

Indeed, the Concept C is the embodiment of a brave new future that Frascella calls ‘the Radical Next’. It literally ‘previews a future production model and will shape further models beyond that’ meaning that this distinctive design will become not just a demonstration of the brand’s design prowess, but a series production reality. Far from being just another ‘design study’ or concept car’ the Concept C represents a turning point – a look at the brand’s design future, and from all angles, that looks to be in very good hands.

“It is distinctively Audi. Proportions, surfaces, and details have been clearly developed and represent a confident expression of the brand identity,” says Frascella.

“It reveals a clear, sculptural presence, with a strong sense of solidity – free of distractions; defined by tension and pure form. It is a tangible interpretation of the new design philosophy, a symbol of the determination that will transform our company and the entire brand.”