\u201cIt\u2019s so simple, it\u2019s almost difficult to describe\u201d begins Walter de\u2019 Silva, director general for design for the Volkswagen Group, as he introduces the new A4, presented at Frankfurt this September.<\/p>\n
The A4 is the very symbol of Audi\u2019s success over the past ten years, and the third generation of the car strikes a perfect balance in form, substance and size.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s dynamic but not aggressive, sporty but not overstated. I have always believed that surfaces must be given room to breathe, and this car is a tangible demonstration of what this means. It is light and shadow that count, not a mass of lines to give the impression of a complex, intricate design.
\nDesigners today are shedding excessive decoration and affected exaggeration,
\nthere is a return en masse to simplicity and we \u2013 who have always believed
\nin simplicity \u2013 are stronger now than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing the A4 on the four ringed marque\u2019s stand at the IAA, it\u2019s easy to understand what de\u2019 Silva means.<\/p>\n
The car is solid and monolithic, and instantly conveys the safety and reliability
\nthat you\u2019d expect from an Audi. Then as you begin to study the car in more
\ndetail, it reveals more audacious, courageous and even fun sides.<\/p>\n
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 167<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>[images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200701_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200702_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200703_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200701_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200702_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1912200703_Audi_A4-300×200.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-design-story-en"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 23:17:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}