Audi nixes plans to build TT Shooting Brake

Audi’s highest product chief has confirmed that the Shooting Brake concept shown at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show will not enter production. In an interview with Netherland’s AutoVisie magazine, Ulrich Hackenberg said that the shooting brake model would only serve to eat market share from the TT Coupe, which uses the same platform. The Coupe is selling well enough that Audi doesn’t need to expand production facilities in its Hungary subsidiary.

The concept car, dubbed ‘Hannibal' by some due to its gaping muzzle/grille, showed off some of the styling cues of the new TT and had technologies like magnetic suspension, LED lights, and Audi’s quattro AWD system.

Hackenberg said that he was personally disappointed the model wouldn’t be built because he found it to be a “fantastically beautiful car.”