Audi will take the fight to the hot-selling Mini with the new Audi 1 Sportback, which will be packed with technology, safety kit and the brand’s latest premium features in a bid to make it the most generously equipped supermini on sale.
The second-generation Audi A1 will arrive in November with the aim of drawing new and young customers to the Audi brand, and makes its first public outing to the Paris motor show. The outgoing A1 is Audi’s third-best-selling model in the UK. It has been a consistent seller for Audi across Europe, too, with annual sales in the region only once dipping below 90,000 units since it was launched in 2010. But with rivals such as the Mini achieving more than double that figure (it sold in 215,549 units last year), Audi has yet to tap into the full sales potential of this segment.
The new A1, the smallest model in Audi’s range, has been given a dose of sporting design, with nods to the brand’s Quattro rallying heritage, including a single-frame front grille and three flat bonnet slits that reference the original 1984 Sport Quattro.
Audi A1 designer Hurgen Loffler on why his car has gone 'to the gym'
