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Since the first-generation TT coupe in 1998, Audi's customers have mentioned design as the main criterion that attracts them to the brand.

"This has made the voice of design much stronger in our decision-making," says Audi's Dany Garand, the A1's design chief. "We don't do retro. We do Audi.

Designers of the original TT were apparently fans of Bauhaus [the modernist architectural school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919], and although more emotion has been put into their designs it's never "oh-TT"

" Our cars are clean, timeless, well proportioned and easy to understand. What are they going to do with the next Mini? It's a dead end."

Audi A1, three-door hatchback
Engine: 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Output: 90kW at 5000rpm and 200Nm from 1500-4000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual; seven-speed automated manual

2011 Audi A8

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