It's official: there will be no successor to the Audi TT

We cannot deny that this is news we are sorry to report: the end of production of the Audi TT is a tragedy for many reasons.

From the outset, the coupé that burst onto the scene in the late 1990s offered a stylish sports car that, while not cheap, was affordable and competed with other very fashionable concepts of the time, such as the one offered by its compatriot, the BMW Z3, allowing for all the differences that existed and still exist between them, but putting on dealer forecourts very attractive cars that still turn heads when the survivors of those productions are seen today.

Over its three generations to date, the Audi TT has lived in the shadow of the Audi R8, again, allowing for the differences, while offering a type of car that was increasingly less in demand at dealerships, as other very different offerings, such as SUVs and, above all, more recently, SUV coupés, ate into its territory.

In fact, despite, again, the differences between, for example, the aforementioned Audi TT and the Audi RS Q3, the crossover with a more streamlined look and silhouette and a sporty design has greater commercial appeal than the sports coupé.

That is why, it seems, Audi even considered reworking an old formula whose results have been very mixed: reinventing, redefining or, quite simply, reusing a name on one car to give rise to another.

On the one hand, there are recent examples in which reviving a name has produced good commercial results, as is the case with the new Ford Puma, while in others, their resurrection has been little short of a failure, given the emotional damage caused by using names such as the Mitsubishi Eclipse in its new life as the Cross.

In any case, judging by all of the above, there seems to be no turning back, and the Audi TT will die before 2021 arrives.

There will be no replacement for the Audi TT coupé or cabrio

And this information could not come from a better source than the CEO of Audi, Markus Duesmann, who has confirmed that the brand needs to focus on its models with the greatest commercial impact, given that, under the regulations coming into force on 1 January 2021 governing greenhouse gas emissions, the Audi TT’s powertrains would have to meet even tighter targets to avoid the financial penalties manufacturers will face under the new and demanding European framework, not even as a hybrid or mild-hybrid car, as most of the Audi range is already doing.

Be that as it may, in line with Duesmann’s words, the Audi TT is entering its final production phase, which makes us feel even more privileged to have been able to enjoy examples that could come to be regarded as ‘unicorns’, such as the Audi TT Roadster 20th Anniversary we have been able to enjoy.