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There are trends all over the car business. Some are good, some annoying, some smart, and some dumb. You're probably shouting at your computer about how obvious that statement is, it could apply to any industry. And you're right. One automaker, though, is responsible for some of the most obvious developments and trends, and it's not an obvious choice like BMW, Honda, Toyota, Ferrari, or any domestic brand. Nope. The most trendsetting automaker is Audi.
Pick your jaw up off the floor. It's true. The VW Group's original luxury brand is responsible for trends in design, engineering, and tech that are nearly ubiquitous. Some of them are legitimately great. Others will make you want to punch the next A5 you see in its four ringed face.
You think BMW and Lexus came up with the idea for big grilles on their own? Not a chance. Audi got that rolling in 2004 with the C6-generation A6. The new 'single frame grille' called attention to the front end in a way that few cars had previously. I always thought it looked great, elegant and distinct, especially compared to its competition. The BMW 7-series and Mercedes S-class had increasingly avant garde designs, ones you could call polarizing at best, that pulled away from the traditions of understated elegance. The 2007 A8, the first with the new grille, was a model of beauty in comparison.
Still, I can remember some car mags at the time calling the big grilles ugly. Turns out no automakers read those articles, because now grilles are bigger than ever. Memes show grilles consuming entire BMWs, the last Toyota Avalon was made mostly of grille, and new Chevy trucks are also extremely grille heavy. Audi also has bigger and ever more dominating grilles across its entire lineup, grilles so big a Q8 could devour that Miata in front of it.
One thing does not a trendsetter make, you say? Well, there's another design element that Audi introduced on the original R8 that's made its way to everything from Ferraris to Kias: LED running lights.
The first R8, a glorious looking car, had delicate LED mascara beneath its lights. A unique accent to an already wild and inspired design. It was so good that now it's everywhere, with automakers finding their own LED signatures to put on every car they release. It's gotten to the point that there are some automakers that use so many LEDs that you'd think they were a structural component of the car.
Then there's the TFT screens used for instrumentation. Sure, there have been digital gauges in some form or another for god knows how long, and this might not be something started by Audi as much as an industry wide development that infiltrated all cars in short order around 2014. The good thing is it put a ton of information right in front of the driver and helped curb distracted driving. The bad thing is that the gauges were lit no matter if it was light or dark outside. You might see where this is going.
LED running lights and TFT displays that were once a great novelty are now the scourge of the night time driver. TFT displays are backlit anytime they're turned on and the newest LED running lights are bright enough to illuminate the road. This has lead to an inordinate amount of people driving around at night with no headlights on. The gauges are always lit, so there isn't an obvious hint from inside the car that the lights aren't on. That means morons that can't be bothered to realize that their headlights should be brighter because the road ahead is dimly lit by a DRL signature are driving around with the rest of us flashing our lights at them and swearing while they wait for the cops to pull them over and tell them what an idiot they are.
It's damn frustrating. I see more and more cars every night without lights on, the people totally oblivious to what's going on. It's insanity.
There's one other thing: the proliferation of all-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is undoubtedly good in the right circumstances and, most importantly, with the right tires. Audi's signature AWD system, Quattro, made a name for itself in loose surface rallies and was successfully able to translate that system's performance advantage to road cars.
BMW and Mercedes both made all-wheel drive cars in fits and spurts in the Eighties and Nineties, but neither fully embraced the architecture as much as Audi. That's mainly because BMW and Mercedes models were all rear-wheel drive, while Audi's were based on front-wheel drive platforms, to all-wheel drive felt more premium. Audi successfully made it part of the brand's DNA, and successfully drove home the perceived advantages of four driven wheels.
Now, all-wheel drive is everywhere in luxury cars, both as standard equipment or an option, with ads showing cars driving peacefully along snow covered roads without a care in the world. Thing is, a rear- or front-wheel drive car would also be fine in the snow with the right tires. There are, of course, performance advantages to all-wheel drive in many conditions, but it'll never get you out of a snowy jam on its own.
This is more a credit to Audi than anything. The brand successfully marketed and developed its design, tech, and engineering in such a way that other brands couldn't help but follow. That has to be deeply satisfying for everyone at Audi, and probably a little funny.
Travis is an editor at Road & Track. He was previously the Editor-in-Chief of Jalopnik.com and is a little too fond of the Mazda Miata.
