Audi boss Gernot Döllner has reiterated to Autocar that a production version of the Concept C will arrive in 2027, following reports placing its future in doubt.
The new electric coupé, the design of which has echoes of the fabled TT, will sit on a new sports car platform called PPE Sport, which has been jointly developed by Audi and sibling brand Porsche.
At the end of last year, Porsche dramatically scaled back its EV plans (at a cost of €3.1 billion), leading to reports that it could cancel the next-generation 718 Boxster and Cayman-consequently throwing the future of the Concept C into doubt.
But Döllner sent a letter to Audi employees earlier this year reiterating the company’s commitment to what is known internally as the C-Sport, and he has now insisted to Autocar that the project remains on track.
Asked how Audi could deliver the production car if Porsche’s plans for the PPE Sport platform had changed, Döllner said: “Porsche will stay to that platform. We will be able to bring that car to the market in 2027, and we are working intensively and very positively together with Porsche to make that car happen.
“We already released the data [design] of the exterior and the interior, so everything is in a good way.”
Döllner’s comments don’t necessarily mean that Porsche will progress with the electric 718 duo. As previously reported by Autocar, Porsche is looking at reverse-engineering the PPE Sport platform to accommodate a combustion engine, so that petrol models could be sold alongside or even instead of EVs.
This platform is a heavily customised version of the PPE one used by the latest Audi and Porsche electric SUVs, such as the Q6 E-tron and Macan Electric.
It features a stressed, load-bearing battery pack housed behind the driver, where the engine would be in a traditional mid-engined sports car, enabling a flat floor and a far lower driving position.
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