Audi A1 to be discontinued after current generation

The Audi A1 will not have a direct successor when it eventually bows out of production, Audi CEO Markus Duesmann has confirmed to Automotive News Europe. This is because the ever-tightening emissions regulations, along with the increasingly prohibitive costs will make it difficult to develop internal combustion engines for smaller cars in the future, Duesmann said.

Prior to its 2022 model-year update, the current-generation Audi A1 was introduced in 2018 as a 2019-year model, and became available at the time in the sole five-door Sportback bodystyle. This was a follow-up from the first-generation A1 that made its debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, when it was offered in five-door and three-door hatchback bodystyles.

With the dropping of the A1 model line, the Q2 crossover would then be the smallest vehicle in the Audi line-up. Beyond the discontinuation of the A1 in light of widespread electrification of vehicles, Audi is expected to consist of different powertrain configurations depending on region, said Duesmann.

The Q2 will likely be the next smallest vehicle in the Audi line-up once the A1 is discontinued

While Audi is expecting internal combustion-engined models to account for less than 20% of its cars sold in Europe, “it will be different in China and in the United States,” he said. This is because plug-in hybrid vehicles, which have internal combustion engines, are considered by Audi to be a “bridge technology to e-mobility,” and therefore sees battery-electric vehicles as the future, Duesmann told Automotive News Europe.

“The plug-in hybrids in most of our car lines help reduce CO2 [figures], but it’s not our plan to increase the volume of plug-in hybrids. The target is to go full-electric as soon as possible,” Duesmann added.

As a whole, Duesmann concurs with Audi’s competitors’ assertion that CO2 emissions targets for 2021 is “about 15% below the 2020 goal,” however the Audi CEO added that the 2021 target is more stringent as fleet consumption is converted and “special effects are eliminated.”

GALLERY: 2019 Audi A1 Sportback