LexFather

The head of Audi’s Brussels plant, Alfons Dintner, said that series production of the Audi A1 will begin in October of this year. The production model will make its debut at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, after which Audi will begin taking orders.

Dintner said that Audi will close its Brussels plant for five weeks in August to prepare for production of the A1, which will arrive in showrooms in the beginning of 2010.

He said that the A1 will initially be launched with a three-door variant, followed by the five-door Sportback (based on the A1 Sportback concept) shortly after.

Audi currently has no plans to offer the A1 in the United States. The company’s sales and marketing boss Peter Schwarzenbauer previously said that Audi is focused establishing a better foundation in the North American market and feels that the brand’s presence isn’t strong enough to support a compact car like the A1.

http://www.egmcartech.com/2009...sales/

Faymester

squishy A3?

Och

iTrader: (3)

It look very cool. Which VW is it based on?

Mister Two

It's based on the Polo.
http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/05/06...form-with-awd/

mmarshall

Audi says it can't sell the A1 here. Yet, rival BMW successfully sells the 1-series and Mini-Cooper (though the American-market 1-series price, admittedly, is too close to that of the 3-series). Mercedes, through Penske-sponsored dealerships, sells the Smart-for-Two, which is a LOT smaller than an A1 (though, admittedly, Mercedes will not yet bring the A and B-classes here). Volvo sells the small C30 here. Saab sold the 9-2X, a redone Subaru Impreza, and would probably still have it except for the Impreza's redesign last year, which was not shared with Saab. Infiniti, for years, sold the compact G20, a redone Nissan Sentra. Acura sold the hugely successful Integra for years, and, later, the TSX/RSX. And Lexus is about to introduce a compact hybrid HS250.......there is already a long list of HS250 customer orders, before the car even goes into production.

We heard this same line from Audi's marketers, some years ago, about the A3........"Oh, no, it just won't sell in America......Americans just don't want small hatchbacks". Yet, when they DID bring it over here, it turned out to be one of Audi's more successful vehicles.

LexBob2

The A3 isn't selling too well for Audi these days. Maybe they are a little gun shy about trying to sell the 1 in the U.S. right now. In July only 335 A3's were sold with only 1,814 YTD.

mmarshall

A lot of sales are down, because of both the recession and the fact that the Cash-for-Clunkers steered a lot of new-car buyers into non-Audi nameplates. But, the CFC program is now over (with little likelihood, at this moment, of its continuation) and the A3, overall, has done pretty well since its inception here.....certainly better than Audi first predicted.

JessePS

should have made it into a coupe. direct competitor would be a c30?

mmarshall

And maybe the BMW 1-series coupes....though the 1-series is RWD, unlike Audis.

GFerg

I love the A3. After checking out the A4, which is a good vehicle, I still prefer the A3. Sucks that it has not caught on here. People IMO are missing out on a good vehicle.

A1 wont work in the U.S. because A1 = Steak sauce.

mmarshall

The A3 DID catch on.......that was the point I was making in earlier posts. Audi may be just looking for an excuse, however, to take it back OUT of the American market in spite of decent sales, because there is obviously not as much profit in each sale as in larger, more expensive Audis. That has traditionally been the problem with small cars......small profits, especially so with the Big Three American manufacturers, but also to an extent with others.

Since when don't Americans eat steak? That's like saying the Japanese don't eat sushi.

LexFather

I secretly have a crush on the A3......

IS-SV

A lot of speculation here, but he did quote facts/sales stats and those are horrible sale numbers. In the Silicon Valley the A3 is fairly popular. I like the A3 personally.

IS-SV

Back to the original topic, the A1 looks smaller and lighter than the 1 series BMW.

GFerg

In its best year, it couldnt break 7,000 sales. To put that in perspective the A4 sold 45,000 units last year. Even the much more expensive A8 sold more than that in a year. IMO that does not sound like decent sales to me. It could have and should have sold A LOT better than it has.

Despite its dismal sales here (the A3 and the like sells like crazy in other markets), its not going anywhere just yet. They have competition from other makes in this class. However I wouldnt call them strong sellers here either.



No. The name A1 probably wont work in the U.S. because it is already taken. It is the name of a popular steak sauce.