Currently reading: Audi A1 production increased
Audi will increase production by 20 per cent to meet initial demand; sales tipped for outside Europe

Audi is increasing production of its new A1 supermini to meet the strong initial demand.

The firm’s sales chief Peter Schwarzenbauer has also confirmed plans for Audi to sell the A1 outside Europe, despite initially rejecting the idea, although China and the US won’t get the car until later on in the car's production run.

See Autocar's exclusive studio pics of the new Audi A1

Schwarzenbauer said production had been increased by 20 per cent at the A1’s Brussels plant; the firm had originally planned to build 100,000 units per year from 2012. A total of 50,000 had been planned to be built this year when production started in May and 80,000 in 2011.

He added that the firm had more than 150,000 interested customers in the A1 from around the world via a website Audi had set up and this had convinced the firm to expand sales outside of Europe.

Read more on the UK pricing and specification for the Audi A1

But he said sales would not start in the US until the car’s second-generation “at the earliest” and Chinese sales would start some time after 2011.

The Mini-rivalling A1 is already poised to become the biggest-selling car in the firm’s history and will launch in the UK in October, priced from £13,145.

Schwarzenbauer said earlier this year that initial A1 demand was likely to outstrip supply and 90 per cent of buyers were new to the new Audi brand.

Read Autocar's Audi A1 first drive

See all the latest Audi A1 reviews, news and video

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

The Audi A1 is a stylish and competent supermini, if a little expensive - but does it have the edge over the Mini hatch, Seat Ibiza and Ford Fiesta?

Join the debate

Comments
33
Add a comment…
moe360 27 August 2010

Re: Audi A1 production increased

catnip wrote:

moe360 wrote:
Now owning the Audi Lee has made me realise the interior of the Golf MK6 is not that nice after owning driving 2 different types I can still remember the squeaks knocks and rattling from the trim, looks like VW were cutting costs in the wrong places. Trust me you may have liked it but after some months of ownership you would have gone crazy ! with the trim rattling about while you on motorway.

Ooh, I don't like the sound of that - I wonder if yours was an un-representative example.

Maybe it would be better to look at the A3 rather than the Golf..

On the MK6 dedicated forum's many owners complained about rattling trim and poor interior build quality, maybe early models were not as well made. I am not sure about the next batch of 2011 Golf MK6 as I know they have made small changes to the car.

I would just get an A3 it's cheaper to buy\lease then a Golf, much nicer interior if you go for the sport\s-line models and looks nicer as well. It all depends on what you want if you want a Golf then its a nice car, but the A3 makes you feel special its just the little bit more classy... I am sure someone will come and try to argue that both are boring, dull, rubbish, bought by idiot cars who just follow the marketing department !

Avoid those people and you have 2 great everyday cars which will bring a smile to your face.

catnip 27 August 2010

Re: Audi A1 production increased

moe360 wrote:
Now owning the Audi Lee has made me realise the interior of the Golf MK6 is not that nice after owning driving 2 different types I can still remember the squeaks knocks and rattling from the trim, looks like VW were cutting costs in the wrong places. Trust me you may have liked it but after some months of ownership you would have gone crazy ! with the trim rattling about while you on motorway.

Ooh, I don't like the sound of that - I wonder if yours was an un-representative example.

Maybe it would be better to look at the A3 rather than the Golf..

moe360 27 August 2010

Re: Audi A1 production increased

marj wrote:
Well by that example, we would all be using Apple Macs at home, given the market share of iPhone and ipod. But we're not. Mac have increased their share to 7% of the global market though.

The reason Mac has only increased 7% is because business which make up most of the % in computers are still choosing windows, this is because it cost's less and most of there current software and applications work with a new version of windows. Also it's easier to install and manage if the network already has a windows server system in place.

Mac's are still good and can be used as they have lot of advantages not just fashion related to consumers and business's

Pros of a Mac:

Mac viruses are rare compared to PCs, but mac viruses do exist.

Very user friendly.

Able to run both Windows and OSX.

Great computer for professional applications such as business, photo editing, rendering, movie editing, etc.

Unix based, thus more secure + stable.

Good multimedia computer.

Back to the point Audi make good cars they are not rubbish it depends on what you class as the best as most Audi's have very good technology. You can say its style over substance just because a road tester said it is not as good as A or B. Also its not marketing which is making the car popular its the car ! Audi has a good range of attributes which do not just include the nice interior and yes the interiors are amazing. Overall Audi make really nice everyday cars that feel special !