Audi TT could evolve into an all-electric sports car

Rumours of the Audi TT's death may have been greatly exaggerated given news from Audi's own technical boss that the sporty nameplate may live on as an electrified vehicle.

Earlier this week, Audi's CEO suggested the small coupe and roadster could be culled due to a slump in the sports car market and low profitability, but the Audi board member for technical development Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler says the TT might have a future after all.

Speaking at the car-maker's annual conference overnight, the senior Audi exec said he was working to convince his bosses to commission a new electrified generation of the TT, which has just been upgraded for 2019.

“The TT is emotional to us; we’ve been having emotional discussions at the board level,” Rothenpieler said.

“Some people say we should stop it but I say that it’s part of our DNA. We’re fighting for it. We want it. It’s our DNA and that’s what we’re fighting for. I’m going to convince my colleagues on how it can be electrified."

Admitting similar discussions applied to the R8, Rothenpieler indicated that both the TT and Audi Sport's supercar and RS models were crucial to the brand's "sporty DNA".

"The e-tron GT is the first step, at the end of 2020; we have to keep our sporty DNA and I think we’re going to see in our discussions on what we’ll still need in terms of combustion engines and what we can transfer into e-mobility right away,” Audi's tech boss said.

Unfortunately for Rothenpieler, Audi's CEO sounded less enthused about the TT's future.

At the same conference Bram Schot reassured shareholders that Audi would "always have icon cars" but added: "But with the TT and R8, we're also looking at volumes because profitability is something we need to focus on."