The German car manufacturer Audi produced a premium supermini known as the Audi A2 between the years of 1999 and 2005. The very last cars were manufactured in the Neckarsulm factory in the month of July 2005.
The design of the Audi A2 is based on the Audi Al2 concept vehicle that was initially shown in the year 1997 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Audi A2 was notable for, among other things, being made out of aluminum and being more fuel efficent and emitting less carbon waste than other models.
In terms of design, the Audi A2 was widely considered to be ahead of its time. Its avant-garde styling, reminiscent of Honda Insight, proved to be too radical for the market, however. The level of sales for this vehicle was a major blow to Audi. The final production is estimated to be approximately 175,000 units. This figure is very low, compared to the Mercedes Benz’ A Class, which sold in excess of one million units.
For a while, there were rumors circulating on the World Wide Web that A2s would not have a re-vamped production life after the demise of the first version. This rumor came to an end in the year 2006, however, when Audi announced that they would be launching a more conventional A1 in order to compete with the MINI in the year 2009.
