Rob, have you seen this? - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

^ No I have not seen that ....thanks for posting that. Dieter Rams was the guy I referred to in my previous post.

For me the first on the Zen market is Volvo with the "Ikea" design interior. I like it a lot. Simple, minimalist, pure. Zen.

^ I would call the Volvo interior "Functionalist" rather than taint it with the term "minimalism" (which has become a rather superficial style rather than anything of substance).

The Volvo interior, like the designs by Dieter Rams, were all about function .....not image or appearance ...and certainly not about some trendy "zen minimalist" lifestyle. They are rigorous examples of the formal design principles as originally taught at the Bauhaus art and design school.

When you guys return to earth I'll be here.

M

LOL .....join us ....you might like it

Audi has gone from "zero to hero" in the past 20 years but despite their well established image in Europe they need something more to make an impact in the US market. That "New luxury" marketing idea might help although i don't know if it will be enough.

^ The great irony is, I believe Audi has been designing precisely these types of interiors already.

I believe Audi already has the best interior designers in the business ....I am amazed that Daimler, with all its resources and design studios from LA to Timbuktu, can't come up with something as good as Audi. Having said that, it is likely this lack of a "singular vision", in the pursuit of trying to gauge and then balance some kind of "global taste", has been the main contributor to why Mercedes' interiors have ended up being so banal.

The Audi R8 is a masterpiece of Art and function -- I can not wait to see what the new A8 will be like.

I do not agree.

Audi wasn't a zero. It has ever been very respectful brand in Europe - especially from the beginning of their Quattro era. That put Audi on the same level as eg. BMW & Alfa Romeo & Lancia & Volvo at that time. Porsche & Mercedes were in a upper league still.

But then the above mentioned brands went quite different paths in 80s ... Some climbed up, some fell down. Unfortunately Audi, Lancia & Alfa Romeo were affected by the fate of their parent companies, while BMW managed to did better since it was an independent company. Volvo? Was lost in time.

Now also Audi & AR & Volvo are climbing back to the level they belong. Unfortunately not such good times for Lancia. And also Audi, AR & Volvo are speeding up with different speeds. Audi is already there, AR & Volvo still have to work.

Audi make the breakthrough in Europe & worldwide with the latest generation of cars - when & where they stuck with high-quality materials & fit+finish while MB & BMW fail to deliver that. So, that strategy payed off for Audi. Also the China factor is a great part of Audi success - leading BMW & MB by a wide margin in every aspect.

Unfortunately Audi is still lagging behind in US market - mainly due failed marketing (eg. sharing showrooms with VW; not being able to differentiate the products enough from the competitors; wrong pricing etc).

Brand image & perception can't be managed with a promotion tools only. Marketing is much more that only a promotion & advertising & PR.

Ask yourselves: what is the point of Audi in US market? It struggles just like Acura does. Eg. take MB as the alfa-and-omega of premium car. BMW is MB's sporty alter ego. Infinitiy is cheaper BMW Made in Japan. Lexus is cheaper MB Made in Japan. What is Acura? What is Audi? What are their strengths, their advantages over competitors? Is Audi a perfect blend of MB & BMW worlds, and Acura Audi's Japanese alter ego?






I can guess how the rear light will look like.

I loved the old Audi interiors.

I don't find the new interiors launched by the A6 that good. The materials are still hard on some places, the adjust is not as precise as it was.
And Audi use, like already mentionned, "fake" soft plastic: instead of soft plastic like Mercedes, they use hard plastic with a big layer of soft touch lack on it...leading to surprises after 2 years of use.

And the design is not that good imo.
The layout is really inspired from the e36 BMW, and there is a lot of little black buttons and little red screens and there is no order. Clearly over-rated for me. Only the R8 has a superb interior.

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Take the A4/A5: there is buttons everywhere, but with no order. Around the gearlevel, you have some little buttons, some bigger, some black and some metallic, some round and some not...
There also are lines ending nowhere...No harmony for me. The edgy screen is in a too big and rounded place, and looks too smal...just doesn't fit here. The heaters are not aligned, the plastic/alu does not flow with the rest of the dash...I don't like the A4/A5 interior at all.

I really, honestly say: for me, from the 3 Germans, the new A4 clearly has the worst interior.

Nothing fits, nothing flows. The corner of the upper part of the dash does not fit with the corner of the upper part of the alu part around the sreen. The screen does not fit in its place. The centre heaters are here because they had no other place to put them... The plastic part for the radio would be perfect in a Fiat. The dash does not flow with the doors.

I really can't see what is well designed in this interior!!

That said, like I already mentionned, the design of the C-Class is not really much more convincing. Spartan, and some hints of Opel. But at least there is order in it.
The Beemers are also not really good designed imo, too complex, too little black pieces here and there, too many straight lines...

For me this is partly because of these horrible, enormous screens placed in the driver's view. Can't design something correct with that. The folding screen could be a good solution, but like it is in the Volvo/X3-1er/C-Class it is not well thought for me. The solution used by the new Cadillac CTS is really superb. Perfectly integrated, beautiful retracted as deployed, a masterpiece I have to say.

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Overall a very attractive interior, this one...Some details still too "American-looking", the quality I don't know, but the overall design is innovative and appealing. Good job Caddy on this one.