When they built it, from 1999 to 2005, the Audi A2 was a flop. Lots of Euro-car nuts like me loved it: a sub-Golf sized, lightweight (900kg), aluminum bodied four seater with great aerodynamics (CW 0.25). Its interior was beautiful and high-quality, it was quiet and it handled well. Ideal for city driving yet happy on the autobahn. This car was worlds ahead of the competition and left the Merc A-Class in the dust. I remember renting one TDI model with but 75 horses that felt happy and smoothe at 110 mph; I drove the hell out of it for a few hundred miles and still got 38 mpg. 50mpg was reported to be easy to attain. But the market hated it. It was pricey, and with gas prices low, it only looked like a sensible buy to tree-huggers. And the looks… the Bauhausian, spartan, slimline styling I loved was judged to be week-kneed and feminine.
Flash forward a few years, and prices for a used A2 are on a steady rise. And after months of discussion, Audi has decided to try it again. Autobild (print edition) reports honcho Rupert Stadler says “it would be practically negligent to neglect this segment.” Audi promises to stick to the original concept: more interior room than an A3, lower fuel consumption than the A1 will get. Higher priced than the A3 too… due to the higher cost inherent to using aluminum to save 150KGs of body weight. There will be more power at hand in the new A2, with engine output ranging from 60 to 210 HP. An A2 S2, that sounds just right to me. Set for the magic year 2010? No ma’am, this is a German company after all, so punters will have to wait until 2014. Hold on, will people even be driving cars by then?
2014?! So then that means a 2016 intro for us in the US.
@ bleach,
We never saw A2 in the past what makes you think it will ever land here?
autonut: because the SUV era is over.
And because the Prius has established the “cool green” market subment.
And because the the success of the Mini and the Smart show that Americans like small cars, even if they are pricey, so why shouldn’t they like a truly smart small car?
The first time I saw an A2, I thought it was something out of a Tex Avery cartoon. It was obviously from the Pontiac Aztek school of design where form and function veto styling.
I liked it, and still do. To me AUDI proved that economy cars don’t have to look like shoeboxes, they can handle well and be highly practical while giving you a decent mpg. In my opinion the A2 was ahead of the marked and, unfortunately, too pricey.
I’d definitely go for an A2 here in NA. Especially considering that the A1 is an on again/off again proposal for our shores. Maybe the A2 will be the right combination of style, size, and fuel economy for us?
@Martin Schwoerer,
I am fan of Mini and always drove smallish cars. However, I doubt that SUV era is over: gas is back to under $2/gallon and majority of my countrymen have TV memory, sizable derriere and need for largeness in a vehicle(perhaps as a result of derriere).
I wish SUV era would be over, but I was glad when frame-on-body era was over and we got SUVs instead. So I am not overly optimistic.
Even if SUV era will be over (IF?) the cost of smallish car has to proportionate to its size(Mini as an example!) and A2 was even expensive for Europe, where folks are gladly paying premium for fine small packages.
Martin, good news for another A2 lover; it was the Euro-Prius, and a rare victory of rationality over excess and pretense.
BTW, how about testing the Golf VI for us? With the 160hp 1.4TSI with DSG. The ECE mileage ratings are in diesel territory, and it scoots. AM&S gave it five stars, and raved about it. To me, it appears to put the Golf (once again) solidly at the head of the pack.
While I like the A2 in theory, I just don’t know that many people looking to blow $32K on a Fit Lite.
So which sedan won the shootout on the cover there?
I was living in Austria when the A2 came out, and I was shocked that it wasn’t (anecdotaly) well received. I’ve always liked the looks and the concept. Perhaps they’d consider an S2 for the uncivilized Amis?
BlueBrat: the new 7 won on points.
Love the Shakespearian reference in the title.
I imagine that Audi’s marketing department is going to be apoplectic when the engineers explain that the A2 is going to cost more than the A3. People generally understand paying more for less (see Mini, A3, and Elise), but not when the traditional automotive numbering hierarchy is turned on its head.
it will be tough sell in US at same price as A4 stripper (which comes loaded, with power sunroof etc) which would get in low 30s with manual and front trak.
If it were say US22k to start then they have may something. Does not need to be aluminum but I love that idea.
A1? gotta google that.
The A2 was a good idea, however financially poorly executed. The car actually was Audis answer to the A class from Benz, but eventhough similiar in size , rated as a “sub-compact” versus the A class belonged to the lower end of the “compact class” thus directly competing with the Golf. Audi could not do that since they already had the A3 in the Golf-class, so they were screwed.
People simply would not spend the amount for a compact vehicle in the sub-compact class as
the efficiency of an automobile is not valued only through it`s mileage.Calling this vehicle “rational” at a sticker price (A2TDI-2005) of about EUR 27000 is laughable and proofs an attitude that as long as it came out of the German’s ass it must be good. Well, the market decided differently. That`s why it´s gone and if Audi thinks that they can revamp this idea on the same token-good luck.
But it *was* good, dadude! In fact, it was great!
It had almost as much interior space as the A4, same comfort, same speed, same crash-worthiness, much better fuel economy, on a much smaller footprint.
Audi bet on rising fuel costs, lost the bet, and decided to cut its losses. A worthy but wrong decision. Toyota, in developing the Prius, decided to wager on. Who’s the market smiling at now?
Kudos to Audi for realizing they went wrong, and now want to do right.
@Martin
I also loved the A2. The shape is brilliant, Peter Schreyer still considers it his best work, ahead of the TT.
The biggest problems are the transmission problems in the 80mpg rated 1.2 TDI, and that women generally hate the styling. So I don’t drive one.
Another reason to watch Peter Schreyer, Mirko. Hopefully, Kia will give him a chance to create something similarly significant.
I agree with you on the “when mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” factor…