Filed under: Economy, Euro, Hatchbacks, Audi, Volkswagen
Coming in 2009: Audi A1
It's been suspected for some time that Audi plans to offer a compact coupe to compete with the MINI. Those rumors have been confirmed during a conversation with Ralph Weyler, Audi's head of marketing and sales.
The A1 will be based off the current Polo platform, with help from SEAT, a subsidiary of Volkswagen. Pricing is expected to be set around €16,000 and should be available sometime in 2009. Whether or not we'll see it stateside remains to be seen.
This addition to Audi's ever-expanding lineup seeks to bring younger buyers into the four-ring fold early, hopefully securing a dedicated consumer of their upmarket products in the future.
[Source: German Car Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wilhelmina J. Higginbotham 9:58AM (11/06/2006)
Look! A red Chrysler Sebring!
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Avinash Machado 10:27AM (11/06/2006)
While this car might get more customers for Audi it could end up diluting Audi's image as a luxury car maker. A potential A8 buyer might hesitate to buy it since his large luxury sedan shares its brand with a small cheap car like this. At least BMW and Mercedes have seperate brands namely MINI and Smart to sell their small cars without diluting their image. Perhaps Audi needs to do the same only that the VW group already has too many brands.
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Jones 10:43AM (11/06/2006)
MM a mini competitor from VW/AUDI corporation. Audi shouldnt do this, they already have the A3, just offer the 2 door option like the last generation. I honestly wouldnt buy it if its going to become the next crotch rocket like what the honda civic became.
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D. 11:03AM (11/06/2006)
No. 2: ever heard of BMW 1 series? They are vey successful in Europe and there's no diluting. Only more customers for BMW who will later upgrade to the 3 series, etc.
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Richard Warren 11:11AM (11/06/2006)
Great!
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Eriq 11:17AM (11/06/2006)
Three years from now and it'll look like that??? That looks like an 04/05 model year. They need to step up the styling to look "right" for 2009/2010.
I don't agree this will dilute Audi's brand image. The Mini Cooper S is considered a quality 'mini' sports coupe, and driven by many wealthy people out here in Denver (as a matter of fact two of my clients who make 50k per months drive Mini Coopers LOL). The Audi A1 I think would be considered on the same level and will just give people another choice.
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Tiago do Vale 11:30AM (11/06/2006)
Can't you see that's a chop?...
And it's reposting old news, too........
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M. 12:25PM (11/06/2006)
@2: Here are many people around who own an A8 or A6 as well as an A2. The A2 with its aluminum space frame that was built in the same Neckarsulm factory as the A8 has the image of being an extraordinary smart car -- with the 3 cylinder Diesel it consumes around 4l/100km.
With prices around 19.000€ the A2 showed that one can afford an intelligent car...
I really liked the overall concept of the A2. Unfortunately, it's discontinued. The much higher cost of the space frame was in no relations to weight savings between 100 and 200 pounds.
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asurroca 1:44PM (11/06/2006)
Geez, people! At 16k euros, does this sound like a MINI-fighter to you? This is obviously aimed directly at the BMW 1-series as poster #4 said.
And has the 1-Series hurt the BMW brand? No. Will the A1 hurt the Audi brand? No. Remember that in Europe, "small" does not mean "cheap" as it does in the States. Oh, and as far as it coming to the US... Don't expect to see it ever hit the US unless the BMW 1-Series and the Mercedes B-Class come first.
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eric e. yang 1:58PM (11/06/2006)
That vehicle looks gorgeous...
I agree with asurroca, it's unfortunate that MB and BMW won't bring over their B/A class or 1 series, respectively, vehicles. In today's market I feel this will draw even more people into the entry level luxury market, a key strategy.
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M. 2:19PM (11/06/2006)
@9: The BMW 1series starts around 21.000€, its direct competitor -- by size, performance and price -- is the A3.
There are some speculations that Audi might revive the old NSU brand with a new TT. This would make more sense as a direct Mini competitor than the A1.
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JON 6:01PM (11/06/2006)
I think there's a market for a premium entry level (oxymoron?) car such as the A1.I don't need alot of car but would like to travel in a high-end luxury performance vehicle.this rendering of the A1 looks great .Lots of character and Audi road presence.
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doglet 8:26PM (11/06/2006)
another over priced vw, i mean audi...
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Banzai 7:03PM (11/07/2006)
A what? ... that's what they'll be saying in 5 years. It might be small and come from a good maker, but sorry, give me a classy Mini Cooper S any day. This is just a scaled down version of some car or another that I saw only today and yesterday and the day before that etc.
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Roberto Juan 1:37PM (11/30/2006)
SMART is not the only low end merceds -Mercedes makes little CHEAP go cart type cars that retain the Mercedes badge, It's Minivanish in it's look (can't remember the digits of the model). They look nice and respectable with the Mercedes badge you expect luxury interior ....
inside they are about as nice as a Mitsubishi minivan. My A3 is MUCH nicer than this crapass benz. I was shocked when I rode in this car.. I have been in nicer hondas and nissans.
I'm undecided how I feel about this but the polos are a bit small and for the premium this little car would need to sell here I can't see why Audi would bother to bring it to the US it's way more justifiable in EU with gas prices and the popularity of little cars.
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FThorn 5:10PM (3/14/2007)
Looks like a cross between the PT Cruiser and Crossfire.
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Harley Cook 9:19AM (4/15/2007)
The A1 looks fantastic and is spot on like all Audi products. I was disappointed when the Audi A3 coupe
didn't some to North America, but then we don't get
Europe's best because of our crap roads!
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altroch70 7:53PM (5/07/2007)
Audi, please bring this car to the States.” The A1 will not be a lot smaller than the A3, but it will consistently cheaper with prices ranging between $16,000-20,000."If this is the price range, it will kill the competition. The car rocks.
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