Audi Concept C Deep Dive: Price, Size and the Porsche Connection

• Audi CEO Gernot Döllner says the Concept C isn't a direct TT replacement.
• Instead, the eventual production version will slot in somewhere between the TT and the R8.
• Signs seemingly point to the production car using a shared platform with Porsche's upcoming electric sports car.

It's been a little while since we've seen a concept from Audi that got the world talking, but safe to say that the Concept C has done just that. Some folks are drawing some unflattering parallels to Jaguar's Type 00 debut (I don't see it), many are lamenting the use of battery power (it's still the future, folks), while plenty of others are just grateful that the spirit of the TT lives on (as am I). 

Plenty of good art is extremely controversial, but having seen it in person, and having sat in it and spun those delightfully tactile interior controls, I'm inclined to say the Concept C is very good indeed. But this isn't the straightforward TT replacement that many are assuming it is, and that's the first point worth clarifying.

It's larger than the R8

With a length of 178 inches, the Concept C is actually slightly bigger than the R8. So is it actually an R8 replacement, then? No. "It will be positioned right in the middle between those two points. TT on one side. R8 on the other side," Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told me.

But don't get too hung up on those dimensions. It's worth noting that concept cars are often oversized compared to their eventual production counterparts, in the interest of providing a bigger canvas to show off a new styling direction. The eventual production car — and yes, there will be one — could be smaller.

Regardless of its size, though, this won't be as attainable as the TT formerly was, nor will it be a top-shelf supercar like the R8. It'll slot somewhere in the sizable space between. Given that the 2023 TT started at just over $50,000 and the R8 started at over $150,000, it's difficult to draw any solid conclusions about an eventual target for the new one. 

It might use a Porsche platform

Both the TT and the R8 shared hardware with other Volkswagen Group vehicles. The TT started its life with underpinnings borrowed from the Volkswagen Golf, while the R8, of course, had an awful lot in common with the Lamborghini Gallardo and, later, the Huracán.

Might the Concept C also have some Group DNA? CEO Döllner flat-out said, "We are not talking about the platform today." However, he did tell me that Audi and Porsche have done well to differentiate their products on shared platforms in the past.

"The perfect proof for that is the Porsche Taycan and the E-tron GT, sharing a platform but being two cars with really different character; for Audi, in that case, the perfect long-distance GT vehicle. And I think also in the sports car segment there's a different focus and different character of the vehicles," Döllner said. (Also, fun fact: Döllner told me that the Concept C has both a frunk and a trunk — like a Boxster or Cayman.)

Audi's new head of design, Massimo Frascella, said, "We are part of a group, so we have synergies in a group," but was quick to clarify that "everything that is facing has to be unmistakably Audi."

Read into that as you will. Given that Porsche is also working on a rear-wheel-drive EV sports car — an electric replacement for the 718 as previewed in the Mission R concept — it seems to align nicely with what Audi has disclosed regarding the Concept C.

I reached out to Porsche spokespeople to see if they had anything to say about the Concept C, and unsurprisingly, the company declined to comment on products from another manufacturer. 

Porsche did, though, provide an update on its electric sports car project, saying, “The electrification of the Porsche product range is continuing apace. At the [Munich auto show], we will present a prototype of the Cayenne Electric. Currently, our full focus is on the market launch of the Cayenne Electric. Our first two-door electric sports car — with a genuine 'mid-engine feel' and typical Porsche design — will be the next model to be electrified and will be launched in the second half of the decade.”

When will the production Concept C go on sale?

That's a long wait for impatient fans of excellent sports cars like yours truly. How long will we have to wait for a production version of the Concept C? "A couple of years," Frascella said, pointing to a potential 2027 release.

But the most important clarification point is that the Concept C isn't just one car. It’s a new strategy for Audi of "radical simplicity" that starts with this very striking design, which will extend across the brand's portfolio. However, it also extends all the way up the organizational chain to impact the very structure of the company, streamlining business decision processes and management tiers in the pursuit of more passionate, humanistic products. 

"We lost our clarity, and as a result, we lost our character," CEO Döllner said at the Concept C's unveiling. Can the Concept C be the beacon that brings the brand back into the light of desirability? Only time will tell.