Click above for high-res shots of the Metroproject concept
The small car market is heating up fast, even for upmarket brands like Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, the latter of which has the majority of the market cornered with its MINI sub-brand. The Bimmer competitor from Ingolstadt plans on attacking that market with its A1 subcompact, but unlike the Metroproject concept from Tokyo, the new A1 due to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show will sport four doors. Europeans are likely to get a production model spawned from the concept, which will likely be built in Brussels, Belgium and be introduced as a 2009 model. An electric model could follow shortly thereafter. Will the U.S. be blessed with another Germanic mini car? Audi's elusive Magic 8-Ball currently says "Not Likely," but with sales of the MINI going strong it's entirely too early to count it out completely.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CarbonBlack @ Sep 15th 2008 1:42PM
I just hope the pricing isn't like BMW's 1Series!
Make it cheap, and make a ton of them.
Torrent @ Sep 15th 2008 1:44PM
Keep it 2 door- or is it occupied by the already-too-tiny A3?
The Metroproject Concept was freakin cute. I love an aggressively styled small car.
zamafir @ Sep 15th 2008 2:24PM
x2, there's something entertaining about a mean tiny car.
Paul M. Watson @ Sep 15th 2008 5:30PM
Just wanted to say that the A3 is not a tiny car. It is a bloated hatch-back. Tiny would be a Smart or Toyota iQ.
geo.stewart @ Sep 15th 2008 1:45PM
I think I found the Mitsu reveal....
Torrent @ Sep 15th 2008 1:54PM
Holy crap. You've just made a really good point.
Atomicbri @ Sep 15th 2008 2:07PM
Audi says "not likely" for a US introduction, I say stupid on their part. Look how MINI has nothing but constant sales and obviously a premium small car has sold well here. Audi would be foolish not to go for this market, especially since in America gas keeps going up and more people are becoming "green" conscience.
Gardiner Westbound @ Sep 15th 2008 3:45PM
It looks like a really pissed Fiat 500.
glenn goldbeck @ Sep 15th 2008 4:23PM
while I have given the design some time (since 2005), I still think the giant grill treatment on all audi's is truly horrible, the clean lines of the 2004 and prior audi's were much looking. this new iteration on the A1 is hard on the eyes, as ugly as the Q7 - a show
stopper for me.
AMcA @ Sep 15th 2008 9:56PM
Dowdy.
hatchbacks or cool @ Sep 16th 2008 11:18AM
It looks nothing like a Toyota IQ or Fait 500 the closest thing to it is the Citroen c3 pluriel with the roof on top .
http://www.zercustoms.com/news/images/2008-Citroen-C3-Pluriel-facelift-b.jpg