A Teaser Done Right

With nearly every brand releasing one before every major auto show it's hard to get excited by a teaser these days. Audi does score a win with a video about its vital upcoming LA concept that is more about telling a story rather than just a visual tease. The video puts the spotlight squarely on Marc Lichte, Audi's new design chief. The concept is entirely his work and Audi appears to have given Marc significant freedom in shaping its future design. It's refreshing to see a supremely successful brand admit that it has erred and could do better with its design. Although its closest competitors have recently leaned more on the Audi design formula (clone and evolve) than their fans want to admit, it appears that the brand has extracted all that it could from it. The few glimpses of the concept promise the most powerful and impactful Audi design since the Walter de Silva designed A5. The future looks promising but Audi could have a mess to explain if the long overdue and delayed Q7 and the comparatively just slightly overdue A4 aren't true products of the new design direction. If the concept is as great as anticipated, good luck explaining to the public why your newest products don't match it. An awkward moment to have for a brand whose cars supposedly "all look alike". Of course this could all be a real tease and the change might not be nearly as drastic as promised.

New York 2014: Hyundai Sonata Preview

Lost in all of the hubbub from Geneva, Hyundai quietly showed a very revealing teaser of its next Sonata set to debut at the New York auto show. The current Sonata was a breakthrough vehicle for Hyundai as it was leaps and bounds ahead of the previous generation and put Hyundai on the map as a brand that's more than just a 10 year warranty. It set the trend for future Hyundais to apply the brand's fluidic design. In fact, Sonata started the trend of better designed mid size sedans followed by the Optima, Fusion and the Mazda 6. This time around the Sonata does not usher in a new wave of Hyundai style but rather borrows heavily from the recently released Genesis. Using flatter and more restrained surfaces than the current model, the teaser shows an upscale look to the new Sonata. Hyundai is poised to continue to deliver above average style in the mid size category and put pressure on design departments at Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan and Chevy.