Walter Pack has started series production of the largest insert the company has ever manufactured: the front grille for the new Audi A2 Electric S Line, developed with a proprietary large-format thermoforming technology that combines screen printing and 5-axis CNC cutting. The project is manufactured at Walter Pack Igorre and injection-molded at RESRG’s plant in Liria, Valencia, marking the first collaboration between the two companies.
A challenge beyond conventional machinery
The starting point was technically out of reach for standard industry equipment. Audi was looking for a front end capable of covering the entire nose of the vehicle, with a large-format design that would reinforce the brand identity of this new premium-trim electric model. The size of the part exceeded the capacity of conventional thermoforming machines, so Walter Pack developed its own process capable of shaping, decorating and precision-finishing parts at a scale that previously had no place on any existing production line.
The front end, the new battleground of electric vehicle design
The project reflects a broader shift in the electric vehicle industry, where the disappearance of the functional grille has turned the front end into the main element of brand identity. BMW has pushed its closed kidney grilles to ever larger proportions on models like the iX, Mercedes illuminates the front ends of its electric cars to reinforce brand recognition, and the industry broadly agrees this type of closed front end also delivers a real efficiency benefit, reducing aerodynamic drag and helping extend vehicle range.
