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2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs

For the most part, Audi has done a great job of keeping its cars differentiated. You're not going to get the same thing from an RS6 and an R8, an A3 and an A4, the RS3 and the RS5. But at the very bottom of the range, we have the little A1, and it's built with VW's cookie-cutter tech.
2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs 11 photos
Photo: Audi
2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs2019 Audi A1 UK Review Suggests It's a VW Polo for Badge Snobs
The problem with the all-new A1, which is a second-generation model is that while on the surface it's an original car, that's 100% true. The problem is not the MQB A0 platform being shared with the VW Polo, but that it's not used differently.

The A3 also suffers from this issue when compared to its Golf sister car, though the Audi version does use aluminum a lot. The real problem is that at launch, the new A1 is ridiculously expensive, and as you'll learn from this UK review, it's not necessarily better than a Polo.

The models presented at the launch event had every options box ticked, so they looked very sporty. This, in turn, made the A1 more appealing than the Polo and, some might say, the MINI. But Ginny Buckley from Carbuyer drove a boring-looking version with normal wheels, no contrasting roof and only silver interior accents. It's what most dealers are going to have in stock, in combination with this very reasonable 1.0 turbo engine which Audi calls a 30 TFSI.

Just to give you an idea of how bad the pricing situation is, the base A1 starts from £18,540 OTR, a couple of hundred more than the top-spec Polo R-Line. Of course, if you really love the new A1, you can have the 40 TFSI with the same 200 HP setup as the Polo GTI. But what's wrong with simply buying that?

Which is not to say that the Audi doesn't do anything better. With a bit of money spent on options, it will look like a more premium car and it has a slightly better ride too. But is that enough to take down the quirky MINI and become the new premium supermini king? Nobody cares; they're all off buying crossovers.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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