Design drive: Audi launches flagship saloon at Design Miami

Miami – Weaving art and design into the auto industry, car maker Audi commissioned London-based designer Tom Dixon to create a new installation for the launch of its A8 luxury saloon at Design Miami earlier this month. ‘Light Light’, the sculpture-installation, was inspired by the car’s new LED lighting system and is meant to express the lightness of the aluminium-framed vehicle itself. In doing so, the automaker links the new model – which, while being more fuel efficient and technically improved, closely resembles the aesthetics of the old A8 – to a larger story, and imbues the $120k car with an artistic, poetic meaning. It’s a move likely to appeal to the mature luxury consumer who has reached stage two or above in The Future Laboratory’s five stages of luxury.