New Audi A1 announced

[Leif]

On sale next month:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/a1/96 ... esta-rival

Not surprisingly it is very similar to the 2018 Polo. Probably harder to get discounts and presumably it has a premium compared to similar spec. Polo.

[SRGTD]

There’s no mistaking it for anything other than an Audi, although I think the Polo is a better looking car. Difficult to tell from the pictures if the interior door cards reflect the perceived premium ‘feel’ that Audi represents over VW, or whether they’re also hard plastic. Irrespective of trim quality, no doubt that model for model, it’ll be more expensive than the Polo.

I don’t like the oversized air intakes in the front lower bumper, or the slotted section below the front edge of the bonnet, and interesting that the front radar is positioned in a vulnerable low down position in the lower grille, like in the original mk7 VW Golf, where it’s susceptible to damage and expensive to replace and recalibrate. The lower rear bumper section reminds me of a current model Honda Civic (a good car it may be but IMO the current Civic has looks that only a mother could love!) . Interesting to see that Audi are offering headlamp washers though, as you can see the pop up covers just below the headlamps .

Also interesting that there’s no diesel - a clear indication that VAG will be phasing out Diesel engines in it’s smaller cars maybe? Thought there might have been a electro-petrol hybrid ‘trialled’ the A1 for future use in the Polo / Ibiza / Fabia / A1, but maybe that’ll come later in the lifecycle of these models.

I don’t think I’ll be getting one. My money will still be going on the Polo when the time comes to change my current Polo.

[monkeyhanger]

The hradlught washer cover plates would suggest to me that top end headlight spec/option is Xenons rather than LED if Polo GTI+ LEDs don't require the washers.

Would not be surprised if A1 door cards weren't better plastics and/or cloth. The ones on our current A1 Sport are unimpressively hard plastics with no cloth on them. To be the one thing that cheapens the new Polo interior so much, how much could plusher cards cost? A fiver each, amounting to an RRP increase of £80-100?

[Leif]

The hradlught washer cover plates would suggest to me that top end headlight spec/option is Xenons rather than LED if Polo GTI+ LEDs don't require the washers.

Would not be surprised if A1 door cards weren't better plastics and/or cloth. The ones on our current A1 Sport are unimpressively hard plastics with no cloth on them. To be the one thing that cheapens the new Polo interior so much, how much could plusher cards cost? A fiver each, amounting to an RRP increase of £80-100?

This YouTube review suggests it has Polo style door cards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD5cvDfi4rg

There's nothing wrong with them IMO, almost all cars are essentially plastic inside, and the Polo feels decent to me. On a par with a Mercedes I had on loan some years back. From that video and photos it looks like they've done the usual A1 trick of adding a few slightly nicer knobs and then whacking on a huge price premium. If the A1 feels much nicer to drive and be in, then I might wish I'd gone for one, but I suspect not, and Audi dealers do not get good feedback. I think they don't have to fight for customers, due to perceived premium image, so they can be a bit arrogant.

Yes you could make the door cards better for a small cost, but you can apply that argument all round, and they have a budget. I assume that is the way they think. No doubt they prioritise, and prototype to get the sort of look and feel they want for a price. The inside of my Polo SE is a nice place to be. The only failing in my view (apart from the horrible VW reverse gear mechanism, I got the wrong gear 3 times yesterday) is the steering which feels rather vague, and can be quite unsettling on winding B roads.

[RUM4MO]

I agree on a lot of the points mentioned,Audi dealers, yes I own an S4 and a lot of money seems to go into dressing up pretty young ladies for meeting and greeting, really something that is very unnecessary though I could accept that if the rest of the dealership was on or above the norm. Buying parts in an Audi dealership is fun, you get seated away from the “good people” ie customers in their grey track suit bottoms and grossly over weight, and some one come out to you eventually with a note pad - sometimes quite interesting as complaining customers are also lead to that area!
The look of A1, I feel that with some car marques the family look will only work down to a certain size so in my mind A1 sector cars are too small for that, maybe Audi needs a new small car stand alone brand for A1 and a light weight city car as that will get revisited again once electric takes over.
Headlight washers, well the higher pricing should allow them to exist, but when I cast my mind back to the pre launch models of Polo 9N back in late 2001, they featured HID headlights as an option, that did not happen in any market!

[mike sel]

Yes, looking at those reviews I am a VW polo guy, pleased I did not wait. The A1 may look better in the flesh. but right now, for me its the POLO which is a bit of luck as that's what I have got.

[monkeyhanger]

You've got to wonder about VW's logic in cheapening the interior for the sake of a very small saving. VWs and Audis stand out above the crowd for their premium feel. Maybe VW have ran out of less obvious places to save money (the Golf has incrementally lost subtle things like covers under the bonnet, glovebox lock and under front seat drawers for the past few years).

I thought that maybe A1 would get better cards to stand out against the Polo. Perhaps they want A3/Golf to stand out against the A1/Polo so that they don't see cannibalisation into the next class. After all the new Polo isn't much smaller than the current Golf.

Or maybe MK8 Golf will also have cheaper door cards.

The new T-Roc looks horrendously cheap (by VW standards) due to not only the door cards, but the dash too - an own goal IMO.

[alexperkins]

Audi put headlight washer blanks on most bumpers now so they only have to make mould set of bumpers. On the models with headlight washers, these are simply cut out on the production line. My A3 is the same - LED headlights, headlight washer mouldings, but none fitted.

[monkeyhanger]

Alexperkins:

But they wouldn't put cutouts and
blanks on an A1 bumper if no A1 variants will be specced with them. Seems to me that some A1 variant somewhere (perhaps only for a limited number of markets) will be getting Xenons or LEDs that exceed 2000 lumens to need washers.

[alexperkins]

Sometimes its just design and stands for nothing

Im going to check etka in a minute to see if the new bumpers are listed on there yet for the new shape A1 now its been announced as that will clear it up

[Leif]

I quite like the styling, but not the exaggerated 'vents' at the corners of the front and rear bumpers. I assume they are a style/branding statement rather than functional, a bit like the weird huge radiator grill, which Peugeot also had for a while, and Ford too though it seems to be shrinking in the latest models.