Audi is set to revive the A2 name for its new distinctively styled entry-level model, senior sources at the company have revealed.
Due to be unveiled before the end of the year, the new model is seen as an indirect modern-day successor to the early-noughties original.
It will feature – as test mules have shown – a one-box exterior design with a short bonnet and split-window tailgate highly reminiscent of that car, albeit in a package that is more overtly a crossover.
The new electric model, which is likely to take the same E-tron suffix as Audi's other EVs, is already in the final stages of development ahead of a planned start to sales early next year. It will indirectly replace the A1 and Q2 in Audi's line-up. Production of those two models is due to end in late 2026.
With prices set to start at around £30k, it will also become the company's most affordable electric offering yet, slotting into the line-up below the Q4 E-tron, which is priced from £47k. By comparison, the A1 starts at £24k and the Q2 at £28k.
The incoming A2 was originally planned to sit on the Volkswagen Group's 800V SSP platform, but due to long-running delays with that architecture it will instead be based on the same variant of the group's ubiquitous MEB platform as the Volkswagen ID 3.
This uses a 400V system and rear-wheel drive. In the ID 3, it is offered with battery sizes ranging from 58kWh to 79kWh and power spanning 168bhp to 282bhp.
Given the more slippery-looking shape of the A2 – as seen on test mules – the top-end range could surpass the ID 3 hatch's 370 miles.
Within Audi, the new A2 is not simply regarded as a premium mini-MPV to rival the likes of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Instead, engineers talk about it filling a void in the market left by the BMW i3, which was produced between 2013 and 2022.
They also point to the first- and second-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, with their space-efficient flat floor 'sandwich' platform, as an example of where and how the new A2 will be positioned.
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The Cupra Born goes up to 320bhp or so, no? And 4WD even more in the closely related Skoda. It seems unlikely Audi wouldn't offer the most powerful motor on the platform, or 4WD for that matter.