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Originally Posted by Sunny  I guess I am the old school here, I find the Nuvolari to be the elegant and subtle one between the two and the A5 as the dark sheep having some unconventional lines and surface treatments - a strange mix between the BMW's flame surfacing and old school Audi.
And while all this is just opinion and not worth much, I also think the reason Audi went with this design is cause they perceive (and probably sales of Bangle designs substantiate this) the premium market wants something unique that stands out with a bit of in your face value and not just another beautiful but conventional design. It worked for BMW despite all the initial criticism. Will it work for Audi - only time will tell. I am BMW fan, but I liked Audi's cause it was not a BMW and offered clean designs that made sense. Does the world need a BMW with quattro? and more importantly does the Audi fans want one? I am not so sure, but looks like that is where Audi is headed with this new design philosophy.
What ever happend to "never follow"? |
I appreciate your stance on this topic Sunny - you're definitely part of the majority here with this sentiment. So I can't disagree.
I just find it interesting that, as we've observed the gradual toning down of "Bangle-ization" so too have Mercedes Benz and, more topically, Audi who are clearly gunning for BMW's place in the market. They must've realised that cold and conservative is one thing but being too controversial can also be detrimental to sales. Here Audi have once again gone for the middle of the road approach, which in my mind, is synonymous with so many aspects of Audi's brand / model positioning and marketing.
This A5 is no revelation - despite it's maker claiming the reinvention of the coupe - but it's no dead duck either. It dove-tails perfectly into the current line up without sending mixed messages to the market as to Audi's identity. A Nuvolari-type design would most certainly have introduced an unwelcome level of incongruity in the Audi range - it would look completely out of place imo. There is a clear strategy at Audi to maximise potential sales by not polarising the consumer base with controversial and challenging designs and I identify with this approach wholeheartedly.
On that whole "Audi - Never Follow" theme one could argue that that's exactly the approach that they're taking: straight, down-the-line, middle of the road product positioning.