US to Get Audi's Premium Subcompact in Five to Six Years

Audi A1 project quattro

The current market conditions and the collapsing sales in the United States make the launch of Audi's premium subcompacts almost impossible, Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen said in an interview for Autonews. People are more interested in small and cheap cars during recession times, de Nysschen said, so a premium subcompact model, such as the Audi A1, would be only a waste of time and money.

However, such a model may still arrive in the United States but only in the next five or six years, he added, explaining that Audi must wait for the American market to get back to the initial status.

“People who know us consider us very highly, but not enough people know us yet. I’d like to get that entrenched much more strongly, and it will probably take us another five to six years. That will be the time that you can kind of roll down the market with a smaller car,” he said in the interview.

More importantly, dealerships in the United States requested Audi to bring the newly-designed A1 in America until they found out the price. Even though the German manufacturer didn't announce pricing for the new model, Autonews says the European A1 will be sold for about 20,000 euros (nearly $25,500).

“They said: ‘This is impossible. You cannot charge this much for small cars. In their mind, they were thinking $18,000, because that’s the conditioning our society still has,” de Nysschen said illustrating the American dealerships' reaction.

While Audi A3 already competes with BMW 1 Series, the upcoming A1 will “fight” against MINI models. According to Autonews, A1 will be 10 inches shorter than the current A3 model. Both BMW 1 Series and MINI are sold in the United States.