Departure to a new dimension

Audi presented two sensational sports car studies in the autumn of 1991: the Audi quattro Spyder at the Frankfurt Motor Show and the Audi Avus quattro at the Tokyo Motor Show. The consistent use of aluminium for the bodyshells of these two model studies pointed towards the future use of lightweight construction in volume production at Audi.

For some years AUDI AG had been working together with the Aluminum Company of America on the development of a lightweight aluminium production car. The result was presented at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show: the aluminium study known as the Audi Space Frame. The body used new design principles: extruded aluminium sections connected together by diecast nodes form a frame structure into which aluminium panels are integrated, where they have a load-bearing function.

In March 1994, AUDI AG presented its new model in the premium segment, the Audi A8, at the Geneva Motor Show. This was the first production model with all-aluminium body. At the same time a new naming process was introduced for the Audi models. From then on the Audi 80 was known as the A4, the Audi 100 was called the A6. They were followed in 1996 by the Audi A3, the first representative of the compact class. Production of the Audi A2, the first volume-built aluminium car, commenced in June 2000.