Interview: Marc Lichte on the present and future of Audi design

Audi unveiled its second all-electric production vehicle at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, a fastback SUV based on the e-Tron that debuted last year. It’s another step in fulfilling the commitment made by parent company Volkswagen Group, which recently announced it was investing $65 billion in e-mobility through 2024 to bring electrification to scale.

But don’t think that Audi’s abandoning the petrol engine; just look at the hot new RS6 which also made its debut this year in LA. In an exclusive interview, design director Marc Lichte gave us a walkaround of both new cars and explained the design philosophy behind each.

“We have 100 percent clear commitment to electrification, but we have to handle both worlds of EV and ICE,” Lichte said. “We are looking in our design department for an overall design [language] which is matching to both, but then we have to separate them.”

That separation, Lichte points out, starts with the front face, where Audi’s EVs use an inverted version of the brand’s signature ‘singleframe’ grille. “I think it would be a big mistake to destroy the singleframe completely,” Lichte said. “That’s why we came up with the clever idea to invert it. So we keep our face, which everybody knows, but it’s very visible from far away as an EV.”

– The e-Tron Sportback at the LA show

The e-Tron Sportback shares the platform, battery pack, interior and many exterior parts with the standard e-Tron SUV, including dual motors that produce a total of 265kW (355bhp) and 571Nm (421lb/ft) of torque and a range of up to 446km (277 miles). But despite the similarities, Lichte said the fastback roofline makes the e-Tron Sportback look like a very different car.

“What makes this car special is that we tried something that we’re never done before. In the beginning of the design process, we took the Audi e-Tron, we cut the roof in data [CAD], and we added the Audi A7 roof. We found out that, yes, this could work. I really like this contrast between a rugged SUV style on the bottom layer and then on the upper layer this A7-inspired roof.” It’s a shape that helps to achieve a drag coefficient of just 0.25, and despite the car’s svelter silhouette, Lichte – who is more than six-foot-six-inches tall – demonstrates that he can still fit in the back seat.

– Scroll across for some demonstrations of Audi’s new ‘digital matrix’ headlights

Another highlight is the e-Tron Sportback’s digital matrix headlights, which use digital micro-mirror device (DMD) technology. A small chip inside the lamp assembly contains one million tiny mirrors, which can be tilted up to 5000 times per second, allowing the headlights to move with each curve in the road. “Honestly it’s impressive,” Lichte said of this technology. “[Lighting design] was always a very important part of our DNA. We were the first company to come up with daytime running lights, matrix lights, and this is now for me definitely the next step for Audi. The headlights would be able to do even more, but we can’t now because of regulations… But we think that step by step, we will be able to get more freedom.”

At the same time, performance remains a key focus for Audi – the company that achieved historic racing success in Group B rallying with the Quattro S1, dominated Le Mans for most of a 17-year stint, and recently took this year’s DTM titles. And, love it or hate it, Audi has applied the RS formula to its SUVs as well, debuting the new RS Q8 this year in LA alongside these two. It sports the RS6’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, good for 441kW (591bhp) and 800Nm (590lb/ft) of torque.

– The new Audi RS6

But the car Lichte said he’d most want in his garage right now is the new RS6, which made its first public appearance ahead of the LA Show in Malibu – just down the road from where Audi is finishing a new, all-digital design studio set to open in January. Sharing only the front doors, roof and tailgate with the more mainstream A6 Avant, it was big news that the supersonic wagon would finally come to the States, as many Americans tend to eschew this body style in favour of tall SUVs. But Lichte is confident the car will seduce the hardcore auto enthusiasts with its fast shape and big wheels.

“What I’m really proud of about this car is that it has many differences from the basic A6. The super-fast D-pillar is absolutely unique, and one-inch bigger wheels – there’s no other car in the world in this segment that has 22-inch wheels. There’s a wider track, 40 millimeters on each side, so it makes a completely different stance. The proportion of this car is perfect. If you ask me what I would like to change, the answer is nothing.”

– The e-Tron Sportback

As for the future of Audi design? “Next year we will introduce our new design level,” Lichte revealed. “I’ll tell you a secret: Right now we visualise, on all of the cars, ‘Quattro’ – which means all four wheels are pronounced, with very sharp lines. There will still be a few very sharp lines, but we do this in a lot more sculpture, a softer way in the next generation. Look to the e-Tron GT [which was shown in concept form at last year’s LA Auto Show] for hints…”