The original Audi TT coupe was first shown as a concept car in 1995 which was then followed in 1996 by the TTS, a concept car preview of the cabriolet version, which featured memorable orange-brown leather seats with baseball glove style leather stitching. The production TT convertible that then followed had a productionised version of this chunky stitched leather seats, but otherwise lived slightly in the shadow of its svelte coupe sibling with a roofline that accentuated its short proportions and, roof down, exposed two rather simplistic roll hoops.

The new TT is slightly longer (and visually a lot longer thanks to the lower side feature) than its predecessor which particularly benefits the new cabriolet version debuting in LA. It also has a more sophisticated roll hoop design with aluminium cladding the outer edges of the hoops and a dark grey plastic covering the inner surface.

Car Design News spoke with Stefan Sielaf, Head of Audi Design, on the stand who confirmed that there was no cover for the roof when folded flush into the rear deck (which seemed slightly odd given that there are necessarily large gaps between folded roof and surrounding rear deck, which are unsightly and likely to collect debris) and that the baseball glove themed thick stitching will continue on this new model exclusive to the cabriolet version