Baby Audi's on the way Down Under

MINI's market share in Australia is in Audi's sights. That's because Audi's local Managing Director, Joerg Hofmann sees MINI as the primary competitor to the A1 small car, due here before the end of next year.

Hofmann, speaking this week during the local launch of the Q5 SUV, revealed that the A1 will definitely come Down Under.

"Certainly, we'll get it here; that's clear," he said, also insinuating that the car will not disgrace the Audi brand in Australia.

"It has to be something really special to step up into the Audi brand."

As we reported in our earlier articles (more here and here), the A1 will be a niche filler, rather than a volume-seller. As such, it will present something of a challenge to Audi's marketing department, but viewed another way, it's what they're paid to do and their track record to date speaks for itself.

But Hofmann agrees that the A1 will take some out-of-the-box thinking to market here in Australia. He even told the Carsales Network that the tiny car from Ingolstadt will not be sold in America.

"I just heard from my counterpart in the US and he will not bring it to the US," he said.

It's not just that the car is so small, but it's a bit funky too. In that sense, its role is somewhat at odds with larger and more 'sensible' volume-selling cars that the company sells in Australia currently. Hofmann refutes any suggestion that it might ever be a mainstream model in the local range and he further stated that the tiny Audi will never go up directly against the Mercedes A-Class, to use one example.

"I would rather restrict production or supply," he said of the A1, raising eyebrows among the journalists at the launch. In Hofmann's view, the A3 is the bread-and-butter model in Australia and the A1 cannot be allowed to confuse the brand image in that regard.

If any hypothetical future model could displace the A3, it might be a reborn A2, says Hofmann.

The aluminium-bodied small car was dropped from the range years ago, due to slow sales -- and it was never sold here -- but Hofmann not only believes that the time is now ripe for the A2 to live again, his remarks lead us to believe that Audi may be re-evaluating the nameplate for a future model.

"A2 may be reconsidered again," he stated, and further, expressed the view that the A2 was a car ahead of its time.

"I believe the A2 now would have been a different story than it was four years ago."

Given the advances in high-strength steels in recent years, a new generation of A2 might present a better business case for the company if built in steel, rather than the aluminium of the original car.

Hofmann wouldn't confirm that the Tiguan-based Q3, first seen two years ago as a concept, would come to Australia, despite the A4-based Q5 leaving a niche open in the SUV market below it.

"It makes sense that if you have a Q7 and a Q5..." he responded, leaving the implication hanging. The company has confirmed that the A4 Allroad won't be sold here, since it provides no effective packaging or offroad advantages over the Q5 and, until tarrifs are reduced, its landed cost is higher.

Keep an eye out for our Q5 review in the next few days.