Audi TT back from the dead! Icon set to return as electric sports car

Think the Audi TT is dead? Think again. The 1990s coupe that put Audi design on the map was an inspiration to Massimo Frascella, Audi’s new chief creative officer, and “the icon” – and sports cars – are very much part of Audi’s future.

“The TT is an icon,” said Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, responding to a question from Auto Express. “I discussed that car so much with Massimo Frascella: it was an inspirational car for his whole career,” he told us.

Back in the nineties, Frascella was working at the famous Giugiaro car design studio in Italy and was desperate to see the brilliant Bauhaus baby coupe in the flesh. “When the TT was launched in Italy, Massimo took a day off and went to the Audi dealer in Milano,” said Döllner. “He sat down in the showroom for one day and just looked at the car.

“What’s absolutely fantastic is that somehow he seems to have always had Audi in his mind, and now is the time to let Audi out of Massimo Frascella,” said the CEO.

The third-generation TT went out of production in 2023, but the rumour mill has been whirling with rumours about its rapid revival. Auto Express has previously reported that Audi was planning a new and potentially different TT – and the Audi boss’s comments suggest that a resurrection could be a high priority. 

Western car makers are doubling down on their heritage as a weapon in the battle with start-up Chinese car companies rich in cutting edge technology but have a history as minimalist as Frascella’s design philosophy. Could that mean Audi revives badges such as the TT’s?

“Yes, that's thinkable,” responded Audi’s CEO. “But we have a broad view on what's possible.” 

Audi posted “challenging” financial results for 2024, with operating profit dropping 38 per cent to 3.9-billion euros (£3.3bn) due to tough economic conditions and declining sales as key models were renewed. It also took a 1.6bn-euro (£1.35bn) hit for closing the Q8 e-tron factory in Brussels.

A future Audi electric sports car?

Nonetheless new sports cars are absolutely in the medium term plan, revealed Gernot Döllner: “I believe Audi should have a sports car, for sure,” he told Auto Express. That’s part of the brand DNA, and we have to find the right way, timing wise, to integrate it into our portfolio.”

Porsche is leading a project dubbed C-Sport, and is due to unleash pure electric replacements for the mid-engined 718 Cayman and Boxster this year. Expect lightning performance to eclipse the MG Cyberster’s, using a box-fresh electric sports-car architecture, which Audi could tap into. 

The rear and all-wheel drive components set could be a very sporty basis for a TT spiritual successor – unless Audi wishes to reinvent the TT as a four-seat GT car. 

“If you’re talking about real racing cars for the track, to me the only way until now is combustion engine or hybrid,” said Döllner. “But if it’s more for everyday use on normal roads, I would definitely see a transition to the electric era.

“Long term there will be a place for fully electric sports cars, not for the track but for crossing the Alps or having fun on a country road.” Rapid recharging – in the time it takes to stop for a coffee – is essential, he added.

The TT was always an attainable sports car, with the original sharing its platform with the Mk4 Volkswagen Golf, before switching to the transverse-engined MQB architecture. While Porsche’s C-sport twins will be high performance and high price, it sounds like Audi is keen for the TT to stay true to its attainable philosophy. And that probably means any production car won’t arrive until 2027 at the earliest, with next-generation battery tech to help reduce the price slightly. 

Döllner believes the TT was a car that unleashed Audi’s progressive ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ philosophy in the design space – and that’s a battleground he wants to win back. “If you look at Vorsprung Durch Technik in design we are working hard on becoming the brand that is relevant when it comes to car design,” he said. 

And recruiting Frascella from Jaguar Land Rover – where he played a key role in shaping Range Rover’s modernist, clean look and laid the groundwork for Jaguar’s new electric design – is a critical pillar of Audi’s new transformation. 

Auto Express asked why Döllner had headhunted the Italian. “It’s his focus and really minimalistic view on car design. Massimo tries to optimise as much as possible, to take everything away that you don't need. I think it's a unique talent to have such a view on vehicle design, to try to work with as little as possible to reach as much as [the imagination allows].”

Frascella joined Audi in June 2023 and it’s likely his first big design statement will come with a concept car at September’s IAA motor show. We can’t wait.

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