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Written by Stephen Dobie
This year, Stephan Winkelmann left Lamborghini to head up Audi"s Quattro division. Only his job title changed immediately, because the team responsible for the R8 and RS models was renamed Audi Sport. We chat to him about what this means, and what we can expect from fast Audis in the futureTG: So Audi Sport" is the big news, a name change from Quattro. Is it a change of mentality as well?SW: It"s a bit early to say so, but motorsport is the DNA of Audi Sport. So it was an easy pick. And in my opinion a company which shares its name with the four-wheel-drive system which is famous for Audi was a bit misleading. I think this is the right move.We always have to think about if we want to do an RS model with every Audi that comes to the market. Or if we want to go more for exclusivity.On the one hand there"s volumes, visibility, maybe faster return on investment, but with the risk that you overexpose the brand. Audi Sport should have value as a lighthouse" for the rest of the range. Given this, I think exclusivity is the way to go.You have very characterful five- and ten-cylinder engines. What sort of life do they have in them?We are currently very good with higher rev engines, but we have to start thinking about what is coming next. Sustainability, as sad as it might be for the car enthusiast or the performance car enthusiast, has to be in place and we have to reinvent ourselves.In the future it will not be "is there a sustainable sports car or not?", but "I"m only going to buy a sports car if it"s also sustainable". This is a must in the future so we have to think about it, and we have to look what we can do to redefine sportiness with sustainable cars.And sustainability is a very wide range of opportunities. We have to be sure about what we"re going to do, and where we are going to put our money. And there"s not a lot of that, something I"m used to from my previous job!Are you led by Audi in what you should make an RS product, or is that your decision?Today there are cars like the RS6 Avant, which for everybody is the definition of an RS model. But it"s a very European car, and we"re looking at making global products.So we have to rethink these things, also. It"s not that I"m saying that we are going to stop doing what we do best, but we have to think twice where we are investing in the future.Audi, yes, they have to approve what we propose, because they are our mother company and therefore they have the right to say yes or no. But first of all we have to be clear in what we want in terms of strategy.The RS6 will survive, though, surely?Everything has to be thought about, but for me the RS6 is amazing. I love it, I drive it, I drove it also when I was in charge of Lamborghini. It was my daily car. I am a big fan of it.If you"re going more global with the products, does that mean more SUVs?SUVs are a growing segment, also in the sport car segment. And it"s also, frankly speaking, an approach which is maybe easier for making people understand that sportiness can also be something different. And with an SUV the weight is not as important as for a car like an R8.In the future if you"re going to have an R8, which is not as capable as the R8 of today perhaps around the corners it"s not as quick maybe you have to explain it to people a bit more. In terms of the cars of the future, they have to be compared within the future, not within what we are doing today.
Date written: 10 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5377
This year, Stephan Winkelmann left Lamborghini to head up Audi"s Quattro division. Only his job title changed immediately, because the team responsible for the R8 and RS models was renamed Audi Sport. We chat to him about what this means, and what we can expect from fast Audis in the futureTG: So Audi Sport" is the big news, a name change from Quattro. Is it a change of mentality as well?SW: It"s a bit early to say so, but motorsport is the DNA of Audi Sport. So it was an easy pick. And in my opinion a company which shares its name with the four-wheel-drive system which is famous for Audi was a bit misleading. I think this is the right move.We always have to think about if we want to do an RS model with every Audi that comes to the market. Or if we want to go more for exclusivity.On the one hand there"s volumes, visibility, maybe faster return on investment, but with the risk that you overexpose the brand. Audi Sport should have value as a lighthouse" for the rest of the range. Given this, I think exclusivity is the way to go.You have very characterful five- and ten-cylinder engines. What sort of life do they have in them?We are currently very good with higher rev engines, but we have to start thinking about what is coming next. Sustainability, as sad as it might be for the car enthusiast or the performance car enthusiast, has to be in place and we have to reinvent ourselves.In the future it will not be "is there a sustainable sports car or not?", but "I"m only going to buy a sports car if it"s also sustainable". This is a must in the future so we have to think about it, and we have to look what we can do to redefine sportiness with sustainable cars.And sustainability is a very wide range of opportunities. We have to be sure about what we"re going to do, and where we are going to put our money. And there"s not a lot of that, something I"m used to from my previous job!Are you led by Audi in what you should make an RS product, or is that your decision?Today there are cars like the RS6 Avant, which for everybody is the definition of an RS model. But it"s a very European car, and we"re looking at making global products.So we have to rethink these things, also. It"s not that I"m saying that we are going to stop doing what we do best, but we have to think twice where we are investing in the future.Audi, yes, they have to approve what we propose, because they are our mother company and therefore they have the right to say yes or no. But first of all we have to be clear in what we want in terms of strategy.The RS6 will survive, though, surely?Everything has to be thought about, but for me the RS6 is amazing. I love it, I drive it, I drove it also when I was in charge of Lamborghini. It was my daily car. I am a big fan of it.If you"re going more global with the products, does that mean more SUVs?SUVs are a growing segment, also in the sport car segment. And it"s also, frankly speaking, an approach which is maybe easier for making people understand that sportiness can also be something different. And with an SUV the weight is not as important as for a car like an R8.In the future if you"re going to have an R8, which is not as capable as the R8 of today perhaps around the corners it"s not as quick maybe you have to explain it to people a bit more. In terms of the cars of the future, they have to be compared within the future, not within what we are doing today.
Date written: 10 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5377
