Audi A1 sketches

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

27 July 2007 06:08

Audi A1: the world exclusive

We always knew that CAR's Georg Kacher is one of the best connected motoring journalists in the world. But even we were surprised when he rang the office with news that he'd 'obtained' official design sketches of Audi's new Mini, the A1. Forget the artist's impressions you'll find elsewhere, CAR Online has three sketches smuggled out of Ingolstadt's design HQ that show exactly how Audi's baby will look. It's been a few years since the A2 ceased production, and Audi is chomping at the bit to join the ranks of the premium superminis. You can't blame them after jealously eyeing five years of BMW success with the pricey Mini. Audi's own supermini will be a classy hatchback laced with the brand's design flourishes - and will form a crucial plank in its strategy to become the world's biggest premium car maker by the middle of the next decade. The A1 will also be among the first VW group models built around its new MQB formula (that's platform boffin-speak for modular transverse matrix). Sounds a bit dull, but the important thing is this: it will also underpin the next A3 in 2010 and other minis elsewhere in the group, and it's designed to be cheaper to build, easier to assemble and more flexible to drop in different modules to tailor the spec for different brands. Audi reckons it'll be $1000 cheaper per car than today's small-car architecture.

Audi plans four different A1 versions: a chunky three-door hatch (revealed here in our exclusive sketches), a roomier five-door hatch, a two-door coupe and an open-top model. Will it be a four-seater cabriolet or a two-seater roadster? We don't know yet. It may be something else altogether, like an evolution of the interesting A2 Open Air concept we saw at the 1999 Frankfurt show. Former chairman Martin Winterkorn, now at VW, is very proud of his new baby. 'It demonstrates our packaging skills - this is a more attractive second car. With the new four-door Polo waiting in the wings, conceiving a structurally similar but visually very different version for Audi is not exactly rocket science.' Audi will equip the A1 with quattro four-wheel drive. That's one reason why it won't be based on the new 2008 Polo's front-drive only PQ25 architecture. Why introduce quattro in this price-sensitive segment? Because premium customers don't mind spending money on comfort and safety options - and quattro is writ through Audi DNA like a stick of Blackpool rock. All-wheel drive gives planned S1 and Q1 derivatives more kudos, too.

By Tim Pollard