Four-door Audi A1 headed to Paris
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 1:42PM (9/15/2008)
I just hope the pricing isn't like BMW's 1Series!
Make it cheap, and make a ton of them.
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Torrent 1:44PM (9/15/2008)
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.
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zamafir 2:24PM (9/15/2008)
x2, there's something entertaining about a mean tiny car.
Paul M. Watson 5:30PM (9/15/2008)
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 1:45PM (9/15/2008)
I think I found the Mitsu reveal....
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Torrent 1:54PM (9/15/2008)
Holy crap. You've just made a really good point.
Atomicbri 2:07PM (9/15/2008)
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.
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Gardiner Westbound 3:45PM (9/15/2008)
It looks like a really pissed Fiat 500.
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glenn goldbeck 4:23PM (9/15/2008)
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.
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AMcA 9:56PM (9/15/2008)
Dowdy.
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hatchbacks or cool 11:18AM (9/16/2008)
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
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