Gernot Döllner: Audi to Rein in Complexity in Lineup, Starting with Steering Wheels

[Source: The Independent]

Ever since the Audi Concept C broke cover we have been hearing more and more about clarity and simplification at Audi. According to a report from The Independent, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner believes the first step in achieving more clarity is to ditch about 100 steering wheel designs.

Döllner wants to make it easier for customers to order a new Audi. Having choices is great, but it can be too much of a good thing and lead to choice overload. When that happens, people get overwhelmed by the number of choices and that makes it harder to choose options.

Did you know that Audi has about 100 steering wheel variations? “We will have a much more focused offer structure,” said Döllner, “We will have clarity for the customer. We won’t have more than 100 steering wheel variants anymore – I believe four steering wheels are enough.”

And it won’t stop at just steering wheels. The Audi boss is planning on reducing the number of options across the board. “We won’t have seven or eight different colors in the interior and materials and so on. We will have fewer, but they will be curated to give the car a specific flavor and feeling,” said Döllner.

Although Döllner doesn’t state this, there could be another benefit to streamlining the number of options. It can make production easier and improve quality. Having to make just four different types of quality steering wheels is easier than trying to make one hundred different types. Multiply that across all the areas where Audi plans to offer fewer choices and it can result in significant savings and improved quality for Audi.

In his conversation with The Independent, Döllner also touched on the Audi Concept C a bit. Specifically, he addressed the concern some people have about an EV sports car and a possible lack of excitement. He promises that with features like a virtual gearbox the car will be every bit as exciting as gas-powered cars. He also promises that the RS brand will live on in the electric era but that only cars truly worthy of the RS badge will get it. But the RS cars won’t go all electric overnight.

“We see quite an emotional and wide range of RS models in the future, maybe for the near future, for the next five to seven years, more combustion and hybrid-based and also step-by-step also more battery electric RS models,” said the Audi boss. He is saying all the right things. It is an exciting time to be an Audi fan. We expect good things to happen with Döllner at the wheel. No pun intended.