If you live in Europe and are looking for a cheapish car with the Audi logo up front, you'd better rush out to your local dealer right now. According to reporting in Autocar, the company will discontinue its entry-level A1 hatchback and Q2 crossover in a bid to free up manufacturing space for larger, presumably higher-profit vehicles like the A5 and Q5. And unfortunately for bargain hunters, neither subcompact offering will be replaced immediately, with the 90s-inspired, all-electric Audi A2 e-tron coming later this year to serve as the brand's new starting point. Reshuffling The Assembly Plant Deck Since the A1 is manufactured at a SEAT-operated facility in Spain, its demise will make space for other Volkswagen Group products. Per Autocar, the facility in Martorell, Catalonia, will be repurposed to build the conglomerate's next-generation entry-level EVs, which will include the soon-to-be-revealed VW ID. Polo and ID. Cross, Skoda Epiq, and Cupra Raval. With starting prices for the electric hatchbacks hovering around 25,000 euros, Volkswagen is anticipating strong demand and is therefore freeing up production capacity by discontinuing the aging A1, a move that leaves the larger A3 as the cheapest car in the lineup.AudiThe same is true of the slightly larger Q2 subcompact SUV, which is built at Audi's hometown factory in Ingolstadt. Its discontinuation will open up a window for the automaker to introduce the A2 e-tron, an entry-level EV that takes abundant visual inspiration from the groundbreaking, cult-classic A2 from the early 2000s. That aluminum-bodied subcompact was the most efficient vehicle in its class at the time, with the headline-grabbing 3L model achieving nearly 80 miles per gallon thanks to aero enhancements and a fuel-sipping diesel engine. Audi hopes its electric A2 will be more popular than its divisive predecessor. The End Of A Decade-Plus Era The three-door A1 first hit the pavement in 2010, with a five-door Sportback sibling arriving a couple years later. The second-generation A1 arrived in late 2018 as a five-door only, but a variety of trim levels and powertrains ensured it remained a strong seller for the brand. Its crossover-equivalent Q2 sibling showed up for the 2017 model year, and like the Sportback, it proved very popular with young, aspirational buyers, as well as older folks who didn't need large SUVs anymore.AudiThe reasoning for their death is multifaceted. Despite robust sales that totalled nearly 2.3 million over their combined product cycles, the A1 and Q2 aren't terribly profitable for the company, and Audi is in desperate need of some financial trimming-up following a painful couple of years and a rough start to 2026. As a result, redesigning the entry-level vehicles to meet tightening European emissions standards may be less attractive to the brand than simply taking them out of commission, which the company confirmed would be the case five years ago.As an EV, the upcoming A2 e-tron – due later this year – doesn't have those emissions woes, and European shoppers have proved more receptive to smaller, cheaper EVs than their American counterparts. The A2 is anticipated to start at less than 30,000 euros, which is more than the sub-23k price of the outgoing A1, but local incentives and subsidies could bring the take-home price down for many customers while still giving Audi a more profitable product to hawk.
