Audi City
INDUSTRY:
AUTOMOTIVE
CLIENT:
AUDI
EXECUTION:
IMMERSIVE RETAIL
creating the dealership of the future.
Audi set out to reimagine the automotive showroom experience with a bold new format—one that could thrive in dense urban centers while embracing the behaviors of digital-first customers. Audi City, launched in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics, became the first-of-its-kind digital dealership: a small-footprint, tech-forward showroom that allows customers to explore and personalize Audi vehicles in stunning detail—without a single car on the floor.
challenge.
Traditional dealerships were increasingly misaligned with the expectations of younger, urban consumers. Large, out-of-town showrooms required significant space and assumed customers were late in the buying cycle. Audi needed a new retail concept that could attract early interest, spark imagination, and drive conversion—all within a condensed footprint fit for high-profile city centers.
solution.
Audi City redefined the traditional showroom by replacing physical cars with immersive digital experiences. Visitors could explore the full vehicle lineup through interactive multi-touch displays, configuring any model with millions of possible combinations rendered in photorealistic, real-time 3D. Once personalized, vehicles were “tossed” onto massive floor-to-ceiling powerwalls, where gesture-based controls powered by Kinect enabled life-size exploration from every angle. The experience was as intuitive as it was visually stunning—delivering a sense of ownership before ever stepping inside a car.
To bridge the gap between the virtual and physical, RFID-enabled material samples allowed customers to touch real paint finishes, leather swatches, and trim pieces—each one instantly updating the digital configuration. Every journey could be saved to a branded USB device, enabling seamless continuation at home through a synchronized web experience. This “start anywhere, finish anywhere” model introduced a new kind of omnichannel automotive retail, built for dense urban centers and a new generation of digital-native buyers.
Locations
Piccadilly Circus, London
Place du Marché Saint‑Honoré, Paris
Kurfürstendamm, Berlin
Chang'an Avenue, Beijing
İstinye Park, Istanbul
Nikol’skaya Plaza, Moscow
result.
70% increase in unit sales
30% higher margin per unit
90% of customers were new to the Audi brand
65% of cars sold without a test drive
Ranked #5 in market sales upon launch in London
Rolled out to 6 countries
Named Most Contagious Retail by Contagious Magazine
Project
Retail Transformation
Experience Design
Omnichannel Strategy
Role
Practice Lead
Lab Innovation Strategy
Retail Strategy
Connected Spaces Strategy
testimonial.
Audi City combines the best of two worlds – digital product presentation and personal contact with the dealer. Thus, with Audi City we are creating a one-stop-shop for experiencing our brand. It is right in the midst of our customers’ lives, yet seamlessly connected to the online range offered by the four rings.
Peter Scwarzenbauer
Board of Mgmt, Mkting & Sales at AUDI AG
