18 Sep 07 13:32
Audi A2
Audi has revealed more details of the future A1, an upmarket supermini designed to take on BMW's successful Mini - and, at the other end of the scale, has let slip the basis of the next generation of Bentleys.
Talking to 4Car at the Frankfurt show, Michael Dick, Audi's board member responsible for product engineering, confirmed that the A1 would not share the radical, all-aluminium, lightweight construction of the ill-fated A2.
'It will be a typical Audi design,' said Mr Dick, 'built in steel on the PQ24 platform [shared with the VW Polo and Skoda Fabia], but with a cheekier look. It will have all the features of the larger Audi models such as the multimedia interface. Even blindfolded you'll know it's an Audi when you get in.'
To be built in Brussels with sales starting in 2010, the A1 won't come in a Quattro version to begin with: that and a three-door body will come later. A show car hinting at the production A1 will be revealed at the Tokyo show in October, featuring 'a new interpretation' of four-wheel drive, and the entry-level version at launch will produce less than 120g/km of CO2. It will be quite light, at under 1,100kg, but that's still around 200kg more than the A2 weighed.
Other new models coming from Audi are a facelifted A3, due next year and to include a convertible, with an all-new A3 range following in 2012 ahead of the next-generation Volkswagen Golf. A Q5 compact SUV also arrives in 2008, with five seats and many components shared with the new A4 and A5. There will be a hybrid version aimed at the US market, where Audi will also launch an ultra-low-emission diesel engine.
Could the two technologies be combined for even better ecomomy? 'It would be very expensive,' said Mr Dick. But is Audi working on the idea? 'Theoretically, yes. We have a simulation on computer.'
Next year will see the double-clutch DSG gearbox offered in the A4 and A5, Audi's first use of this technology in a longitudinal engine layout. And maybe the RS6's twin-turbo, Lamborghini-based V10 engine in the R8 supercar? 'You are very impatient,' smiled Dick. That will be a yes, then.
And the Bentleys? 'Audi is responsible for the development of Bentleys,' said Mr Dick, 'and we are developing an alloy structure for the next generation. The next A8 and the Bentley will be sister models.'
The new structure will save around 150kg over the existing steel one. So will both the next-generation Continental models and the larger Arnage line share it, with suitable adjustments to size? 'You will have to ask our Bentley colleagues about that,' said Dick.
