Audi Will Abandon One Compact Model And Revive Another

2023 Author: Natalie MacDonald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-03 15:38

Audi has doubts about the continued need for the A1 compact hatchback. As Autocar writes with reference to the words of the current head of the company, Markus Duesmann, the model will be donated for the further electrification of the line. Its place can be taken by a modern version of the famous compact MPV Audi A2.

• Markus Düsmann linked the possibility of abandoning the Audi A1 with the abundance of offers in this segment, which are available in other brands of the Volkswagen concern - for example, VW Polo, SkodFabi or Seat Ibiza. In addition, he complained about the high cost of electrification of such compact models and their modest margins. Thus, after the A1 retirement, the Q2 crossover may become the smallest Audi.

• However, Audi is already working on a relatively small premium electric vehicle. According to Düsmann, the A2 designation may return to the company's lineup with the new product. Under this name, Audi in the period from 1999 to 2005 produced an unusual compact MPV, which, however, did not take root on the market.
• At the same time, there is no talk of a full-fledged revival of the model yet. The novelty will be based, as expected, on the AI: ME concept, presented by the company in the spring of 2019. But in the design of the production model, some references to the appearance of the Audi A2 can be used.
• Finally, according to Duesmann, Audi's lineup could face further downsizing. The company wants to get rid of those models with internal combustion engines, which in one way or another duplicate existing or promising electric vehicles.
• Porsche and Audi engineers are currently implementing the so-called Artemis project within the concern - it provides for the development of a fundamentally new platform for relatively large premium electric vehicles. In the second half of the decade, the project may also see the light of the first electric car in the modern history of the Bentley brand.