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Audi sees room for TT family, including possible crossover and superlight models

With the third-generation Audi TT slated for a debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show in just a few weeks time, we've received some interesting news out of the United Kingdom. Speaking to the crew at Top Gear, Chief Engineer Ulrich Hackenberg made some interesting statements about the next TT, noting that he likes the idea of a production Allroad Shooting Brake.
"I can imagine the TT has much more potential than we have used up to now. That's why we did this Allroad [Shooting Brake] Concept. The trend is to smaller crossovers. So for example you do a crossover TT. It would have a big group of fans," Hackenberg told TG.
That makes it almost sound like Audi is trying to expand one popular, fashion-forward model into a wildly different niche, like Mini did moving from Hardtop to Countryman (or perhaps more appropriately, the Paceman). We'll reserve judgement, if only because the Allroad Shooting Brake was one of the more popular concepts at the Detroit Auto Show, making our Editors' Choice list.

Automakers need to stop stalking celebrities

Since the invention of the automobile, cars and stars have gone together like paparazzi and the Kardashians. During this season of starlet-adorned award ceremonies, from the Golden Globes through to the Oscars, you will find a lot of car companies all vying to loan out their vehicles to any celebrity with a recognizable face who happens to be heading to a red-carpet award ceremony. There is, however, none so coordinated, consistent and aggressively playing the Fame Game as our friends at Audi. Since the invention of the automobile, cars and stars have gone together like paparazzi and the Kardashians, so by association getting a celeb behind the wheel of your car brand gives it an instant image boost that must make the car more attractive to buyers. Celebrity tales equals dealership sales. That's the logic, anyway. But surely the millions of dollars spent giving free cars to rich stars is a waste of precious and increasingly smaller marketing budgets. It's time to make the car the star, not the other way around. Lets be clear, we are not talking about the very obvious dropping of famous faces into big budget ads. That has its place in the marketing toolbox, but in a very media savvy world it's clear most of us get that play-for-pay concept. Today, the use of just a famous name in an ad yields very little influence on whether you or I will buy that car. No, this awards-ceremony loaner deal is a subtler, but higher risk, idea that if you see a "star" with "their" car in "real life" then surely that adds to the car's appeal. We, the audience, are expected to start salivating like Pavlovian puppies in our desire to have same car in our own, less red-carpeted driveway. Geoff Day has been called the "Pied Piper" of the auto industry, leading auto journalists on wild rides around the globe in his position as former director of communications for Mercedes-Benz USA. Before that, he worked at DaimlerChrysler UK on its PR efforts, and rubbed elbows with the Queen of England in his role at the Buckingham Palace Press Office. His phone is filled with the numbers of the great, the good and the bad. His head is filled with dirty little secrets hiding in many corners of the auto industry. There is no doubt that the publicity that comes with a well placed story, picture or feature can help raise awareness of a product – Oprah proved that with her "Favorite things" – especially if you are launching a line of wrinkle cream or juice bars.

Next Audi A7 redesign will include more traditional rear end

A report in Automobile says that Audi is rethinking the design of the next A7. Audi told Car and Driver that owners "have trouble with the radical tail of the A7," so its model-defining rear end will give way to something more traditional. Automobile is light on specifics of the redesign, but the general direction is "a lower, wider, and more expressive shape." The philosophy behind the dimensions and styling is a "C/D shift," meaning Audi wants to give its C-segment hatchback the bearing, gravitas, and visual delight of a D-segment vehicle. That would help the A7 stand out from its in-house competition, and could make for higher transaction prices. Having heard about different design directions from Audi for years without much in the showroom to back it up, we could define what we'd love to see in two words: more Prologue. This is Audi, so you know the next A7 will be packed with tech. We expect an emphasis on touchscreen interfaces, a digital dash cluster a la the TT that moves with the steering column, a HUD with night vision, and an MMI system a few more steps down the evolutionary trail. Engines will see some upgrades like the addition of a plug-in hybrid, the excellent 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder getting a 74-horsepower e-boost assist to 326 horsepower, the 3.0-liter V6 slated for the S7 rising to 500 hp, and the 4.0-liter V8 in the RS7 pumping out 575 hp.