First Sight: Could Audi Urbansphere herald China MPV revival?
By Guy Bird2022-04-19T10:28:00
With the Urbansphere, Audi’s design team has turned the ’van-with-windows’ approach to the MPV on its head. Can this concept revive the segment?
Audi unveiled its Urbansphere concept on Tuesday 19th April 2022 to complete its recent ‘concept trilogy’ started by the Skysphere roadster at 2021’s Pebble Beach and continued with the Grandsphere GT at IAA Munich in September of the same year.
Like its two forebears, the Urbansphere is also a concept focused on autonomy – at Level 4 and more – where the vehicle handles all aspects of driving and a steering wheel is not necessary. But unlike smaller urban concepts designed to weave in and out of traffic and park in tight spots, Audi’s latest take on mobility for megacities is huge and MPV-like, has a decidedly Chinese focus and was developed with customers from that region.