The Audi A1 will end its sale with the current second generation

It was unveiled to the world at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, with two generations behind it and thousands of units sold around the globe, but the Audi A1 has to say goodbye just as many models have had to do in recent years, because the tough emissions restrictions and the brand’s electric future make it unviable for Audi to keep selling it.

It was an open secret that grew louder by the day, and the news has finally been confirmed in the words of Audi’s own CEO, Markus Duesmann, in an interview with Automotive News: “We know that offering future combustion engines for the smaller segments will be difficult due to rising costs.” Unfortunately, although one could think of converting it into an electric vehicle, Duesmann ultimately confirmed that the Audi A1 will leave without a successor.

The pandemic has done nothing to extend the A1’s life. Its sales plummeted last year, although it’s worth noting that in 2019 it already showed signs of weakening with a slight drop, though these were logically not as steep as in 2020. Its departure from the market will happen gradually, although everything points to the German brand planning for this to become definitive starting in 2025, when Audi goes all in on electric vehicle production.

It is precisely in this regard that the German brand confirmed just a few days ago that the roadmap from 2026 onward is for all its models to be fully electric, which means Audi will stop producing combustion-engine models, including hybrids, vehicles it does not want to waste time on since it considers them a bridge to the inevitable electric mobility. In fact, its current plug-in hybrid models will not be a priority for Audi, and it will not try to force an increase in their sales, since the future is entirely electric.

As we have previewed, part of this electric future for Audi will be seen at Monterey Car Week, held in Pebble Beach in mid-August, where the brand will present the Audi Grandsphere prototype, followed by the Audi Skysphere, which is expected to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and finally the Audi UrbanSphere, which will debut next year at the Geneva Motor Show.

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