Audi A1 driven - Introduction

A few years ago any suggestion that German premium car manufacturers would be fighting tooth and claw in a supermini sales battle made about as much sense as backing England to win football's World Cup. In your dreams. Small cars were almost as expensive to build as large ones, they argued, and were a damned sight less profitable. Anyway, there was the prestige of their brands to protect.

So, why the collective change of heart? The downsizing trend has certainly played a part, but most of the cars coming out now were planned and budgeted for long before buyers started tightening their belts. More significant was the need to reduce corporate average fuel consumption. The real stimulant, though, was the arrival of the Mini, which proved that people would spend big on a small car loaded with options as long as the image was right.

The Audi A1 will make money
The Mini has never made big money for parent company BMW, but that won't be the case with the Audi A1. By utilising a platform already developed for small Volkswagens, Seats and Skodas, Audi can offer a supermini that's relatively inexpensive to buy but still capable of turning a tidy profit. That platform, featuring a solid beam rear axle, rules out the possibility of quattro versions of the A1 appearing, but in this instance Audi isn't bothered about losing one of its key marketing tools. It will still be laughing all the way to the Bundesbank.

Audi pedigree
It's has been pretty cute in making sure the A1 can't be accused of being a re-badged VW Polo or Seat Ibiza. The two turbocharged petrol engines – a 55mpg, 85bhp 1.2 and a 54mpg, 120bhp 1.4 – aren't available in either of the relatives, while the 70mpg, 103bhp 1.6 turbodiesel isn't offered in the Polo. The A1 also has its own suspension tuning and interior. Not that potential buyers are likely to weigh their decisions on such matters: you voted the A1 the most exciting new car of 2010 in a whatcar.com poll, even before you fully knew what was in store.

The A1may be small, but it's a typical Audi: a crisp, freshly laundered exterior look and a high-quality interior featuring squishy plastics in all the right places. The more durable stuff is largely out of sight. The switches and instruments look expensive, too, and they're less contrived and confusing than those in a Mini.