The German Design Council presented the “Design Prize of the Federal Republic of Germany 2010” to AUDI AG today in Frankfurt. The Audi A5 Coupé was the winner of Germany’s highest official design prize in the category “Design Award – Product Design Gold.”

Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Finance and Organization, accepted the “Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany 2010.” Strotbek sees the A5 as “a clear design statement for sportiness and elegance. It also offers an extremely dynamic and very comfortable driving experience.” And for de Silva, the “father” of the vehicle, one thing is certain: “The
Audi A5 Coupé is the most beautiful car I have ever designed.”

This is the fourth time that an Audi model has won this most prestigious of all official German design awards, with the Audi A4 Avant, the Audi A3, and the Audi A2 preceding the Audi A5 as winners of the coveted award.

“Audi’s Design team and I are thrilled by this accolade. It convincingly acknowledges the Audi brand’s design excellence. The A5 Coupé boasts the genes of a design icon, and it’s great that the judges also see it this way,” says Stefan Sielaff, Head of Audi
Design. “The Audi A5 Coupé continues the tradition of the classic two-door sport/touring coupé: executed powerfully and boldly via elements of Audi’s progressive design language,” adds Wolfgang Egger, Head of Audi Group Design.

The customers also appreciate the design of the A5. Between its market launch in June 2007 and the end of January 2010, Audi has delivered more than 126,000 units of the A5 Coupé to customers worldwide. The largest single markets for the A5 are Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Italy and France.

The design of the Audi A5
For coupé buyers, emotion plays a major role in their choice of car; the most important reason to buy, in the case of a sporty two-door car, it is the design. The Audi A5 Coupé continues the tradition of the classic two-door sport/touring coupé: executed powerfully and boldly via elements of Audi’s progressive design language. The Audi A5 expresses all of this at the very first glance. “If cars were actors, the coupé would definitely be a character actor. The A5 is the pinnacle of Audi’s progressive and stylish design language,” says de Silva.

The A5 Coupé is a very important car for the Italian. It handsomely distills and blends core elements of the Audi brand’s genetic code: sportiness, power, sophistication, and elegance. The low and sporty silhouette, the few but very precisely drawn lines, the expressive front end, and the equally distinctive tail end comprise a wholly desirable coupe.”

“The A5 is naturally a very powerful and supremely sporty automobile,” continues de Silva, “but it doesn’t come across as the least bit aggressive or arrogant.” De Silva also feels that its classic elegance and a harmony of proportions, lines and surfaces sets this Audi two-door model apart.

The A5 Coupé’s proportions are characterized by a very wide and low stance, a long wheelbase with a short front overhang and a long, flowing transition from the Cpillar to the short rear.

The award
No other design competition expects so much from its entrants. A company may take part only if its product has already won a national or international award. Furthermore, companies must be nominated by the Ministries and Senators of Economics of the Federal States or by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

The jury
The winners of the Design Award are selected by a panel of industry, academia, design, and media representatives appointed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.