Audi will revive the A2 name after a break of more than two decades later this year as an electric crossover that will evoke the spirit of the original supermini.
The German firm officially confirmed the revival of the A2, previously reported by Autocar, at its annual media conference, where it also showed a preview image of the new car for the first time (below), ahead of its unveiling this autumn.
The new EV, to be made in Audi's Ingolstadt hometown, will serve as an indirect replacement for the soon-to-be-discontinued A1 and Q2 at the bottom of Audi’s line-up. Pricing is tipped to start from under £30,000.
CEO Gernot Döllner said the new A2 comes as part of a strategy to make the Audi EV line-up accessible to a wider market: “We’ve listened. Our customers want electric mobility that impresses in everyday life.
"The A2 E-tron is our promise to deliver exactly that: efficient, compact and confident. We’re making entry into the electric Audi world easier and more relevant than ever."
The A2 will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB EV platform and will be close in size and specification to the Volkswagen ID 3 hatchback.
However, as spy shots of test mules show, it will have more of a crossover-influenced design, with some MPV elements, giving it a profile that closely resembles that of the original A2, which was produced from 1999 until 2005.
"It’s a highly efficient entry-level car into the Audi universe, and positioned within the core of the A-segment [Audi's term for A3/Q3-sized models]," said Döllner. "It’s compact on the outside, yet very spacious on the inside. We’ll inform on price positioning at the given time ahead of launch, but it’s going to be our electric entry-level car, so it will be below what we’ve offered so far on electric cars in the Audi universe."
Inside Audi, the new A2 is seen as an indirect successor to that seminal supermini, which majored on efficiency thanks to a lightweight aluminium architecture and a slippery one-box bodystyle.
It's understood that the similar shape of the new car was driven by a similar push for aerodynamic efficiency.
Audi said the redeployment of the A2 name is a "deliberate nod" to the EV's 1990s forebear and pledged that the new car will continue the "mission" of the original.
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Dreary. I nodded off halfway through the article (though, that may be my age). I suspect Audi will pretty it up with attractive large wheels. To be honest, only that can save the souless and bland design.
You do realise this is Autocar design of how they think it'll look. Best look before you leap next time.
I don't want to be negative but....... The original A2 was highly innovative and would have been a game changer if anyone had bought one. Which very few people did. But it had genuine technical creds. If this new A2 is just a re-bodied VW how does that reflect and celebrate it's ancestor? Is this just marketing hype?
Also, the vast majority of people don't care about "rebodied", which is why many rebodied models sell quite well.