No plans for Audi Q1 e-tron, or new A1 & Q2, confirms Audi

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Update: Introduction, ‘No future plans for Audi Q1 & Q2’ and ‘Larger electric vehicles a focal point for Audi’ sections updated.

Audi’s renewed focus on upper-class models, including Speedboat projects Audi Artemis and Audi Apollon will mean that the budget range from the four-ringed brand is not a big priority. Then there is the cap on how far down Audi would go in the future with EVs, bringing us to the topic of the Audi Q1.

Audi isn’t interested in competing in segments lower than the Q3 in the future. While the four-ringed brand didn’t see an Audi Q1 (incl. Audi Q1 e-tron) as a potential product earlier, it has dropped a bombshell, stating that more compact models are on the chopping block. Audi has just confirmed that it will ax the Q2 and the A1 as well, confirming its positioning as a brand that caters to higher segments only, according to a statement it issued on February 9, 2022.

Specifically, we have decided not to build the A1 anymore, and there will be no successor model from the Q2 either.

Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, talking to Handelsblatt, on Feb 7, 2022

No future plans for Audi Q1 & Q2

Audi has said that there will be no successor to the current A1 and the Q2 — neither electric nor petrol, as the brand strengthens its focus towards the upper end of the market and electrification. The Q2 will be discontinued at the end of the lifecycle, a few years from now.

The (current) Q2 is here to stay for some time to come. We’re talking a good few years, here. We can, however, confirm that there will be no direct successor to the Audi Q2 when it is phased out in a few years time. Audi is definitively positioning itself as a premium brand within the Group. As such, it is limiting its model range downward while expanding upward. The systematic electrification strategy will also play a key role here. From 2026, Audi will only launch new all-electric models.

Audi’s official statement, as reported by AutoExpress on Feb 9, 2022

In an interview in May 2021, Autocar asked Audi CEO Markus Duesmann if Audi customers will be able to buy an EV cheaper than the Q4 e-tron, say a Q3 e-tron. Duesmann said that Volkswagen Group provides opportunities to launch smaller and lower-cost electric vehicles. However, Audi has positioned itself such that it “shouldn’t stretch too much for lower entry segments.” This is a strong indicator that the company will not use the MEB ‘eco’ platform to generate future products, sticking to the MEB, PPE, and the upcoming SSP platforms.

When the Q2 and the A1 are phased out, the A3 will become the entry point for Audi hatchbacks and sedans, while the Q3 will become the new entry-level Audi SUV. The brand has pledged to be fully electric by 2033, and its final petrol-powered car will roll out in 2026.

Audi Q2 would stay as the entry-level SUV, with no plans for an Audi Q1
In one fell swoop, Audi has confirmed that there is no future for the A1 and Q2 series. With the brand trying to scale its image as a premium carmaker, an Audi Q1 is also out of the question. Image: Audi

Larger electric vehicles a focal point for Audi

“Audi will tend to concentrate on larger vehicles,” Duesmann told WirtschaftsWoche in January 2021. By 2025, the company plans to introduce around 20 all-electric models, Hildegard Wortmann, BoM – Marketing & Sales, Audi, told Franziska Hartung in an interview on March 18, 2021. However, most Audi EVs in the pipeline are premium and upper-class models, be it the Audi Q5 e-tron, the Audi A6 e-tron (Audi E6), Audi Q6 e-tron, and the Audi Landjet.

Featured image: Audi

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