Audi says it will define the "new luxury"

[Bartek S.]

According to Audi, well, all that "ye olde worlde traditional luxury" stuff is great, but it's not the new hotness. Scott Keogh, marketing head for Audi of America, says that the key now is to combine the values of old European luxury -- high quality and traditional prestige -- with new, West Coast luxury values of "a more casual attitude, a sense of Zen and spirit and those types of things."

Audi aims to define that trend, though it doesn't say exactly how. Audi's upcoming Godfather-themed Super Bowl commertial is meant to exemplify the idea, as the movie is about a shift in power from the old to the new. Audi wants to assert itself, but it doesn't yet have the same perceived prestige of its German foes, a lot of which has to do with the fact that understatement is still the guiding principle in its car design. Audi makes some terrific cars, but it simply won't get big volume from the lifestyle crowd with handicaps like that. And as to how exactly Audi plans to incorporate "new-age" and "Zen and spirit" into its car design -- could yoga mats replace floor mats in the A5 Sportback?

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/27/audi-says-it-will-define-the-new-luxury/

 

[EnI]

Hm ... Interesting. "New luxury", "Zen sense", ...

Sounds familiar?

Audi is definitely not alone on this one. Note the words by Adrian van Hooydonk (BMW Automobile chief designer), talking about CS Concept:

This is probably the most luxurious thing we have ever designed. For BMW, luxury cannot be a traditional form of luxury.' And achieving this has been all about reducing the amount of design you notice. Van Hooydonk likens it to hotel lobbies that are so visually stark they are almost Zen-like, yet are still perceived as luxurious.

This idea of using 'reduced' design to achieve the ultimate in luxury is something BMW sees as the future. Van Hooydonk says it's already happening in the fashion world, with traditional luxury brands such as Gucci and Hermes totally revising their design language.



Here the focus is on what we can do with sculpture and how refined can we make it,' says the designer. 'Maybe in this busy society some peace and tranquility is the highest luxury.'

So, viva la "new luxury", "Zen-sense" , "reduced design" etc. Apple effect?

 

[Centurion]

If the CS Concept is an example I don't see any difference between it and many other concepts I have seen. The only noticeable ques I can pick up is that the interior is quite reserved and a bit minimalistic, more emphasis on shape and form than on details. Steering wheel is very busy though.

 

[EnI]

^ Have you seen the car in person?

I guess not. When you will, you'll notice the "zen sense".

 

[Centurion]

And what is the Zen sense?

 

[siko]

And what is the Zen sense?

It's some new marketing bulls#it!

 

[Centurion]

Consumer don't care much for Zen or Jing & Yang. As long as they feel like kings or ballers in that black S 500 they are smiling.

 

[Merc1]

More marketing "stuff". Audi already is "new luxury" to many in the U.S. Of course Mercedes is your rich papa/grandfather/uncle's car and BMW is somewhere in the middle with your somewhat younger Aunt or boss owning one. Audi is for those who don't want a Japanese luxury car and find BMW/MB to be too snooty and find them to suffer from the wrong image for them. Also people who've recently been promoted and find their Jetta/Golf/Rabbit/Passat to be not enough badge for them anymore.

Audi is doing no more than accepting their place in the market, U.S. market prospective that is.

M

 

[Monster]

^ Have you seen the car in person?

I guess not. When you will, you'll notice the "zen sense".

I have, the car looks absolutely fantastic, but I still don't get the "zen sense"

 

[SDNR]

Oh God no, "West Coast Luxury" ....I can live without that.

 

[warot]

Consumer don't care much for Zen or Jing & Yang. As long as they feel like kings or ballers in that black S 500 they are smiling.

-1
A car is such a personal thing... I'm so far from baller it's not even funny

 

[SDNR]

I have, the car looks absolutely fantastic, but I still don't get the "zen sense"

"Zen minimalism" is intended to have a Japanese-inspired purity -- it is just a fashion term -- it doesn't have much substance beyond being a style trend.

Actually, the term "Minimalism" is totally overused ....and is used incorrectly.

True Minimalism is very sterile and ideological ....like the sculptures created by Donald Judd in the 1960s.

The Minimalist design trend, which is now coming to its end anyway, has been around for at least a decade now. It should be called "café minimalism" because it is not a high-cultural phenomenon, but rather, an upper-middle market interior design trend.

The Minimalist trend started with bathroom, kitchen, and furniture design products in the 1990s.

View attachment e7b67c725c57eb3bb0d0043974af664e.jpg

 

[warot]

"Zen minimalism" is intended to have a Japanese-inspired purity -- it is just a fashion term -- it doesn't have much substance beyond being a style trend.

Actually, the term "Minimalism" is totally overused ....and is used incorrectly.

True Minimalism is very sterile and ideological ....like the sculptures created by Donald Judd in the 1960s.

The Minimalist design trend, which is now coming to its end anyway, has been around for at least a decade now. It should be called "café minimalism" because it is not a high-cultural phenomenon, but rather, an upper-middle market interior design trend.

The Minimalist trend started with bathroom, kitchen, and furniture design products in the 1990s.

View attachment e7b67c725c57eb3bb0d0043974af664e.jpg

That is exactly my kind of stuff. That couch looks absolutely fantastic

 

[coolraoul]

According to Audi, well, all that "ye olde worlde traditional luxury" stuff is great, but it's not the new hotness. Scott Keogh, marketing head for Audi of America, says that the key now is to combine the values of old European luxury -- high quality and traditional prestige -- with new, West Coast luxury values of "a more casual attitude, a sense of Zen and spirit and those types of things."

HAHAHA West-Coast and Zen in the same sentence...
What a marketing bla-bla...

 

[klier]

^ Have you seen the car in person?

I guess not. When you will, you'll notice the "zen sense".

And have YOU seen the car in person?
And if so, where?

 

[SDNR]

So, viva la "new luxury", "Zen-sense" , "reduced design" etc. Apple effect?

Apple gets far too much credit .......they pretty much copied the style of the British product designer Jasper Morrison.

 

[Centurion]

^^
Yes they have. Most of his designs are white and soft, similar to Apple's products.

 

[EnI]

Apple gets far too much credit .......they pretty much copied the style of the British product designer Jasper Morrison.

But the Apple design is commercially very successful & reaching broad crowds worldwide. Not that they invented it but they promote it & marketed it - making minimalism trendy again. And the other manufacturers are following that way, making their product looking Apple-like.

I'm not that familiar ... is there any mainstream pret-a-porter fashion designer who does minimalism & is commercially successful?


Regarding "zen-sense" ... Yes, of course the terminology is a marketing BS. But the idea behind the terminology isn't. Marketing guys have detected a trend customers are more & more looking for premium designs that are balanced, tranquil, deep, peaceful, meditative. Designs that make you feel calm, and provide you an escape from the hectic daily life. And they called that "zen design", "zen sense", "new age luxury", "reduced design" etc. And since in premium car industry product life cycles are quite long (eg. 7 years) this particular trend is coming to the auto industry a bit late.

Mind that Lexus try to do something similar with their "L-finesse" design theme.


The funny thing is many different car manufacturers are now entering the "zen era" of automotive design - yet their designs are not very much alike. Or are they? So, is it the "zen design" something that is open to interpretation of designers & marketing guys, or is it - like in Apple case - more a rigid rule.

 

[SDNR]

^"Minimalism" was not made trendy by Apple ....it emerged long before apple did the iMac (which I realize is not strictly Minimalist)

It had already reached the mainstream by the time the iPod arrived.

Even Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, and Tom Ford, were pushing this "Zen Minimalist" trend in fashion design.

Tom Ford 1996

 

[SDNR]

I'm not that familiar ... is there any mainstream pret-a-porter fashion designer who does minimalism & is commercially successful?

Well I could point out that Dieter Rams and Jacob Jensen both were creating very successful and influential products decades before the iPod came along ...and long before any talk of "zen-minimalism"

I would also suggest that several famous architects made their reputations designing "minimalist" buildings and objects: Mario Botta, Paolo Piva, Shiro Kuramata, to name three off the top of my head.