According to reports, the German automotive conglomerate Volkswagen AG is reshaping the lineup of four ringed luxury vehicles that it is planning to offer in the U.S. in a more economical way. While Audi has no plans of producing a diminutive A1 mini car or a drop top A3, they are planning a few other versions of the compact hatchback. These variants include everything from a clean diesel burning five door to a four door sedan, much like an upscale VW Jetta, and even a compact crossover called the Q3. The German automaker is also considering a zero emissions A2 BEV. An all electric A2 city car would definitely soften up the U.S. market’s opinion about a possible e-Tron super car further on down the road.
On a more global note, the German automaker has also canceled plans to build an all out racecar spec motor sports version of their current entry level sedan, the RS4. However Audi did tell us that their RennSport division is focusing on the B segment cars, so that only leaves the RS5 to get our high performance hopes up, at least until the next round of cutbacks. However it would have been unlikely for the German automaker to expand the breadth of their RS lineup for next year with the TT-RS scheduled for delivery and an RS3 in the works. Although we here in the U.S. will most likely never see the latter, it is rare that Audi build more than one RS variant per model year. Either way it looks like all of Audi’s in house high performance tuner cars will keep with a sleek two door theme.
Audi wasn’t very successful with the last A2. It’s tall and round look made this Europe-only supermini the ugly duckling of the Audi family (and this was even during the time Audi was getting mixed results with the introduction of the trapezoidal grille on its sedans.) The car was finally killed off in 2005 and few wept.
Audi wants another chance at the small car, but it also thinks its learned it lesson. Audi’s head of Research and Development Michael Dick told Autocar that the new car will “be recognisable as an A2 but very different from the old car.” Also the cost will be spread across the Volkswagen Group. “We will not make the same mistake as with the first A2 and do it all by ourselves,” said Dick.
Audi also plans to make an electric version of the car immediately available. This means it will take a little longer to develop than a conventional car. Although Volkswagen is getting ready to produce the Up, a small car with hybrid possibilities, Dick says Audi won’t utilize that platform. The A2 will be larger than the Up, and so the A2 will be based on “a group platform of the next generation”.
The largest question that arises from the A2’s rebirth is doesn’t the A1 already fill that space in the lineup? The answer lies in the car’s function. While both will occupy Europe’s popular supermini car category, the A1 will be sportier and compete with cars like BMW’s Mini, and the A2 will fill a more functional kind of role same as a Mercedes A-Class.
Just like the first A2, don’t expect this one to reach much farther than Europe.
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