One of Volkswagen's best-selling models ever was actually an Audi

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A new year marks another set of milestones for the automotive world, and one of the most acclaimed events for 2025 will be celebrating the Volkswagen Polo’s 50th birthday.

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Not only is the Polo one of the most successful selling vehicles in the Volkswagen catalogue, but it is also one of the best-selling small cars in the world, with over 20 million leaving dealerships over the 50 years it has been on sale.

However, it’s sometimes forgotten that the Polo actually started its long life with an Audi badge on the nose, a car that was shaped by one of the most prolific and revered automotive designers in the world, Marcello Gandini of Bertone.

The history of Audi and Volkswagen pre-dates the birth of the Polo by around a decade when in 1964, Volkswagen acquired a 50 per cent stake in Auto Union (the amalgam of German car manufactures that included Audi). By 1966, Volkswagen had assumed full control of Auto Union and by the early 1970s, Audi had emerged as a standalone brand, releasing a flurry of models including the Audi 60, 100 and 80.

And in 1974, the four-ring brand released the Audi 50. And it was a game-changer, but not for Audi.

The car that started it all

Before the Volkswagen Polo was the small hatch we all know and love, it was sold under the Audi 50 badge.

The Audi 50 was Germany’s first attempt at a ‘supermini’, a category defined by a small-hatchback with a front-wheel drive layout.

Planning for Germany’s first supermini began as early as 1968, when Kolben 50 (Project 50) was formed. Audi called upon two of the industry’s most esteemed designers.

Audi’s in-house designer, Claus Luthe, who was later responsible for some of the most beautiful BMWs ever – the E30 3 Series, E31 8 Series and E36 3 Series – and Marcello Gandini from Bertone, whose design portfolio transcends any beautiful car you can think of including the Lamborghini Miura, Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos and Citroën BX, were brought in to design the new hatch.

In just 21 months from the drawing board to producing the final concept, Audi presented the first Audi 50 with a completely new engine, gearbox, and design. A tiny 1.1-litre engine was mounted at the front transversally, a new design for Germany’s mass production market, where engines historically were mounted longitudinally or mounted at the rear to drive the rear wheels.

The idea was to provide an affordable entry into the Audi line up, which featured the larger 80 and 100 sedans. In 1974, the Audi 50 reached German dealerships, priced at DM8195 ($AU6965) for the LS and DM8510 ($AU7223) for the GL (an addition of a more luxury interior and extra chrome details).

Besides signalling the beginning of Germany’s supermini production, the Audi 50 was not particularly ground-breaking in comparison to hatchbacks already being produced in Japan and the UK.

The Audi 50 was on sale for just six weeks before Volkswagen undercut its sister brand with a rebadged version, the Volkswagen Polo.

Apart from minor interior trims and the lack of buttons in the Polo, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two, but the Polo’s sale price of DM7500 ($AU6367) was significantly less than that of the LS trim Audi 50.

The Polo was an immediate success, outselling the Audi 50 within months of its release. The two models continued to be sold alongside each other until 1978, when Audi stopped production following a board decision that the brand should focus on producing larger and more premium cars.

But why were they constructed together in the first place? The reasons behind the strategy was never officially released, however, during the design and early production of the Audi 50, Volkswagen was working what would become the iconic Golf. It’s been rumoured Volkswagen wanted to test the market with a small car before mass-producing what would go on the become a replacement for the rear-engine Beetle.

Dipping its toes in the compact car waters paid off, the Volkswagen Polo amassing nearly a million sales worldwide in its first generation. Since then, through six generations across 50 years, Volkswagen has sold over 20 million Polos

As for Audi, the brand took a big step back from small cars, focussing its energies on luxury and sports sedans, SUVs and coupes instead. But in 2010, it returned to the fray with the release of the first Audi A1 in 2010.

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