Audi has axed its cheapest new car
12/23/2024 05:23 PM
The most affordable model in Audi Australia showrooms has hit the chopping block amid slow sales – and an end in sight for its smallest car.
The cheapest new car Audi sells in Australia – the 2024 Audi A1 30 TFSI city hatchback – will be axed amid slow sales.
It comes as the end of the road for the A1 range – the twin under the skin to the VW Polo – inches closer, as Audi head office in Germany has confirmed its city car will not be replaced by a new-generation model.
The three-cylinder A1 30 TFSI has been dropped for Model Year 2025 (MY25) production, the car maker has confirmed, leaving the more expensive four-cylinder 35 TFSI and 40 TFSI to continue.
MORE: Audi Q2 SUV and A1 hatch to be axed
The price of entry into the Audi range has therefore risen from $36,200 plus on-road costs for the A1 30 TFSI, to $39,200 plus on-road costs for the 35 TFSI, which carries its MY24 price over into MY25.
It is the highest price of entry into a new automatic Audi since 1999 – when the base-model A3 1.6-litre automatic was $39,450, before inflation – and the highest irrespective of transmission since 1996, when a 1.8-litre manual A4 was $46,800.
Adjusted for inflation, the price of entry is at its highest since 2011, shortly after the original A1’s launch.
The 30 TFSI is powered by a 85kW/200Nm 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine shared with its Volkswagen Polo sibling, compared to the 110kW/250Nm 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder of the 35 TFSI.
As reported previously by Drive, the 40 TFSI will receive a mechanical upgrade for 2025, with more power from its 2.0-litre turbo engine, a new transmission, and lower claimed fuel consumption.
“We have removed the 30 [TFSI] from the range for Model Year 2025 because it was the lowest selling variant, and really most of the mix was in the 35 [TFSI] or the 40 [TFSI],” Audi Australia product planning manager Peter Strudwicke told local media.
MORE: Audi to launch nearly 20 new or updated models in Australia in 2025
Audi head office has confirmed there will not be a new generation of the A1 – amid slowing city car sales – but an end date for the vehicle has not been announced.
“It’ll definitely run at least a full model year,” Strudwicke told media.
“We can’t give you too much information on its full life cycle, it hasn’t been announced by the factory, but definitely at least a full model year to go with MY25.”
Asked by Drive if there will be a Model Year 2026 A1, the executive said: “[I’ll] leave it up to your speculation.”
MORE: 2020 Audi A1 30 TFSI review
The typical seven- to eight-year life cycle of Audi vehicles should have seen the current-generation A1 – launched in Europe in the second half of 2018 – bow out within 18 months.
However, its Volkswagen Polo relative is planned to have its life extended close to 2030 – despite the latest generation launching in 2017 – amid lower than forecast demand for electric cars, so the Audi could also benefit.
The Audi Q2 SUV – introduced in 2016 – is also not planned to be replaced, but it is also yet to receive a publicly-announced end date, and Audi is set to upgrade the model in 2025 with new infotainment technology, suggesting it has some life left.
The post Audi has axed its cheapest new car appeared first on Drive.
