I feel like Audi is making this to be their next halo car.
>“The delivery of the platform by Porsche is not in question,” adding that Audi and Porsche are “proceeding in good collaboration.”
I mean, Porsche could still release an EV but simply not use it to replace the 718.
Porsche needs a new platform for 718 because it can't sell the car in Europe due to cybersecurity laws (not even anything to do with emissions).
The entire next-gen platform was dependent on the development of the EV.
Apparently the cybersecurity thing was a pretty bad excuse. Lots of other cars just updated their hardware/firmware to satisfy the requirement, but Porsche probably expected the next gen 718 replacement to be ready way earlier than it actually was and didn’t want to invest in the old platform. And the 911 is more profitable.
Not an excuse per se, but an unjustifiable expense for a low-volume, low-priced (for them) model when they had made the decision to pursue the EV. 10 years is also quite old for a platform, materials engineering advances quite a bit in a decade.
I don’t consider it an excuse either and agree with you they probably considered the cost of updating the old 718 vs going all in on the clean slate new platform and rolled the dice on a smooth transition to the new thing.
I’ve lived this scenario in my product development life and from a corporate culture PoV I’ve seen updating the old thing seen as a waste while the shiny new yet-to-be-launched thing get all the resources and executive support. I can’t say Porsche execs did exactly that but I wouldn’t be surprised.
I've seen that and I've also seen the opposite. I sometimes get presented a problem and my first reaction is it's trivial. Then they tell me it needs to fit existing packaging, has to be made from a specific material, has to cost less than $X, they need to make a million, and it has to be ready by next year...well that trivial problem just became impossible to solve. I'm guessing some amount of the fallout from that ends up on your desk when management says the old thing is a waste.
Yeah, I loved those requests that boiled down to wanting something better, faster, and cheaper on an impossibly short timeline. Then you’re stuck in the defensive position of explaining how the sausage is made so they have some sense of why their ask is completely unrealistic. There’s also a job risk to being the person that pops those balloons.
The funny thing about this scenario with Audi/Porsche is that I’m pretty sure Porsche would rather not go through with launching this platform but they’re stuck with this commitment to Audi. I’d like to have been a fly on the wall for the VAG meeting where Porsche socialized they were pausing the 718 EV and Audi reminds them they’re still on the hook for it. “Sorry, Porsche, that’s a you problem. Our program continues.” Maybe I’m projecting exec drama from my former life but it seems unusual for a collab like this to get cancelled by one brand but continue with the other partner.
The same cybersecurity regs killed the ICE Macan in the EU, and that thing was an absolute cash cow. It basically required an entire revamp of the car's security and ECU.
So Porsche is doing everything they can to push their EV models back to ICEs since there just is no profitable market for EV sportscars. Why the hell does Audi think they can pull this off?
Porsche has more baggage with the Cayman/Boxster, was relying on China being a big market for the car, US tariffs weren't in place, and they had a supposedly revolutionary battery supplier. Fast forward a few years: battery supplier's gone bust, they were bickering with the battery packager, China doesn't want electric Porsches, the US is now more expensive, and the EU has relaxed their emissions regulations. And a new CEO just came into the role.
In contrast, Audi have a better Chinese market outlook through AUDI and aren't relying on that market for this car, I have to guess the majority of those development expenses aren't on their books, and they're not pissing off legacy buyers. They can also position the car higher in their lineup than Porsche could because Porsche bounded the price by calling the 718 while Audi's car is *not* a TT. Also it'll be not exactly a halo car, but a statement of intent for their brand direction.
It probably won't sell in great numbers; they don't expect it to. But as long as it meets those expectations then it's a success. Admittedly 10K a year for a 6 figure Audi is ambitious, but I think they have a (slim) chance of pulling it off.
>In contrast, Audi have a better Chinese market outlook through AUDI,
[Not according to the recent reports](https://www.autoblog.com/news/china-isnt-buying-ringless-audi-sub-brand) that that brand is struggling.
I don't think there's a real market for expensive EV sports cars at the moment. The Porsche Taycan is the only one I can think of and it has famous depreciation which has crippled its sales.
None of the big boys (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin) or even the smaller premium players (Lotus) are going EV. There's a place in the market for a small, lightweight EV sportscar like the SC01 or MG Cyberster, but they haven't hit the wider market yet to prove viability.
I stand corrected on AUDI. It sounds like it's buggy garbage just like their western market cars. What a waste.
> I don't think there's a real market for expensive EV sports cars at the moment. The Porsche Taycan is the only one I can think of and it has famous depreciation which has crippled its sales.
The Taycan isn't a sports car. It's like an electric Panamera, AMG GT 4 door, M5 (pre-hybrid), or A/S/RS7 (see e-Tron GT). Nobody would call those sports cars. Not coincidentally, except the M5 they don't retain value much better than the Taycan. There isn't really evidence of whether electric sports cars would sell well or poorly because there are so few.
> None of the big boys (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin) or even the smaller premium players (Lotus) are going EV.
Lotus is an (unsuccessful) EV maker now; the Emira is their swan song pure ICE car. As for the others, I firmly believe they don't know how to appeal to people who would buy expensive EVs (or believe they exist). They're all trying to make the best engine simulator but totally half assing it.
Either lean completely into the EV and don't bother with any fake engine stuff, in which case your market has no legacy buyers so go chase conquest buyers. Or commit fully to it, make simulated engine maps of all your famous cars, sell them as options and then you have a chance of retaining long-time buyers. But this business of simulating some generic V8 when customers can just go buy a car with a real V8 or V12 is nonsense.
>many Chinese car buyers don’t buy or can’t afford sports cars.
Neither can many Westerners, that's completely irrelevant. They aren't targeting the mass market with a sports car, they're targeting the many, many affluent buyers in the market. There's plenty of Chinese buyers in that segment.
I just looked at R8 sales figures. In its best year the R8 sold a little over 5K...so yeah 10K a year is is *very* ambitious for an even more niche model especially since I don't think they plan to sell it in China.
Well I'm sure petrolheads will be ready to say "told you so," EVangelists will complain about an impractical sports car when they just want a box on wheels, and the 8 buyers who got a crazy deal will sing its praises after 3 new buyers lose their shirts on depreciation and dealers discount the other 5.
Well, there's no TT, there's no RS5 coupe, there's no R8...
It better be a coupe and not weight 5500lbs.
If the new RS5 is the direction Audi is going, I'll just be holding on to my old RS5.
The only bummer there would be the loss of real sound. I was absolutely mind blown by the video from Lightning Lap - you could barely even hear the Temerario, which is very un-Lambo-like (I'm assuming it's due to particulate filters), and I can't imagine Audi would be allowed to outshine Lamborghini.
I think it's probably the particulate filters - the ZR1 is also turbocharged and is way, way louder than the Lambo. Here, I'll post the link timed to the Lambo, and it's back to back with the ZR1 - I'm giving C&D benefit of the doubt that they didn't tweak levels here, but the difference is stark. I honestly didn't expect it to be that huge, but Throttle House's review of the Lamborghini is equally damning on how quiet it is.
[Lightning Lap - Lamborghini Temerario](https://youtu.be/vxQPyoDp3mE?t=1314&si=ojfCpNc9b6bx86ia)
It's extremely weird - especially for Lamborghini, which has always been known for V12 noise and, more recently, tuning the V10 to be more musical than it's Audi cousin.
They shouldn’t forget why the original r8 4.2 was such a success. They made a mid engined sports car for the same price as a 911 that was daily useable. Going V10 only for the second gen was a mistake imho. It pushed the car way too upmarket for an Audi. If they build a 3rd gen they should do better than just nerfing a Lamborghini.
I've stopped wasting my time thinking about cars that do not yet exist. Car companies need to revert back to the days where they announced a new vehicle and then offered them to the public quickly after.
If only they had a subsidiary that just released a twin-turbo V8 revving to 10K, which they could easily rebody as an Audi and which they had already been doing for the last 20 years.
[Sounds like](https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/audi-r8-primed-return-lamborghini-engined-super-phev) they're doing that too:
> Audi is preparing a dramatic return for the R8 as a plug-in hybrid supercar that, in its most extreme form, could become the brand’s most powerful and fastest roadgoing model to date.
> The new R8 is tentatively slated for a debut in late 2027. Development of the Mercedes-AMG GT and Porsche 911 rival has progressed beyond the feasibility stage, understands Autocar, and engineering is under way with the backing of Audi chairman Gernot Döllner.
Why must they always do PHEV?!? I don’t want to plug in any vehicle. If hybrid, use the engine and regenerative features to maintain charge of the battery. It’s seamless in my current hybrid, and I don’t have to unplug or plug-in anything.
> but didn't it became extremely popular because it was Tony stark's car?
That was part of it, but not the biggest part.
The original R8 looked fantastic in 2007 and was much cheaper than a Gallardo. Rebodying a Temerario doesn't achieve that. You would need to somehow make it much cheaper but not EV-only.
I bet It’s a 3 tons electric/electrified SUV coupe with awd but it really is Quattro ultra so jokes on you it really is fwd with a gimmick. Also 200k starting price.
It won’t be. The TT was shared platform. This will be $100k+ for sure. I had a TTRS and I loved that car so much. Too bad the 5 cylinder doesn’t meet EU regs (and would’ve been accumulated too many fines under the old cafe standards).
[I think they confirmed this a while ago. Audi's version of the 718 successor will be above the TT, but below the R8.](https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/1m97no1/audi_to_show_off_new_ev_sports_car_positioned/)
The CEO said very [explicitly](https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/audi-concept-c-price-size-porsche.html) that it will perfectly split the difference between the TT and R8 market positions:
> "It will be positioned right in the middle between those two points. TT on one side. R8 on the other side," Audi CEO Gernot Döllner told me.
The fact the media keep calling it the next TT is annoying because everyone will be up in arms when the Concept C production model eventually starts over $100K. They'll say "the TT was an affordable sports car," ignoring that at no point in development did anyone say this model will be.
Agreed, but to be fair they did do [a photoshoot on the first press event with them side by side...](https://motorweek.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/auto-draft-164.jpg)
Yes, but they also had the R8 at that same press event and [photoshoot](https://www.gearpatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/2026-Audi-Concept-C-1.webp?w=1920).
I think that's less about the two cars as they fit in the market/product categorization and more about their shared intention as a milepost in styling & design.
The Mk1 TT was basically a concept car that was so well received they quickly turned about a production version. It has a timeless style that still looks modern today and kicked off ~15 years of Audi pushing the envelope on design. My wife could not care less about cars but she has a soft spot for Audi because she loves the way they look.
That is what the brass in Ingolstadt hope to achieve with the Concept C; refresh an Audi that is in the doldrums sales and brand wise.
This is official confirmation of that internal email that got "leaked" last month. The Concept C is still on, expected to sell a bit over 10K units a year, and my guess is it starts ~$120-125K.
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