Currently, Audi smallest electric car is the Q4 e-Tron, a 4.59-meter-long midsize SUV. Although at the time the German brand announced its intention to focus on the most expensive and profitable segments (that is, from C + up), apparently the premium firm of the Volkswagen Group would now have changed its mind.
Audi’s director of development, Oliver Hoffmann, has denied that they will not develop small electric models. “We will electrify all core segments by 2027. This also includes the A-segment, where we see a need for premium vehicles in the future. ” Until now, Audi had never been present in the A (urban) segment, the smallest category in the European market.
Although the firm with the four rings has already flirted in the past with the possibility of launching an ultra-compact electric car (Audi Urban Concept, 2011), the truth is that until now it had not finalized its plans to develop a model of this type. Currently, the most “premium” competitors in the category are the FIAT 500 and Smart ForTwo.
While Audi’s current offerings in the B-segment (A1 and Q2) will disappear without successors because electric powertrains leave little room for the time being in the lower categories, Hoffmann has pointed out that later the company will also launch into the pool with them.
The Volkswagen ID.3 could serve as a starting point for the Audi A3 e-Tron
The truth is that thanks to the Volkswagen Group’s MEB Small and MEB platforms (which will be replaced in 2026 by the new SSP), Audi will have access to a bank of organs that will allow it to quickly develop small models (remember that Volkswagen currently is working on a family of B-segment electric cars; however, at the moment they will only be sold under the CUPRA, Skoda, and Volkswagen brands).
Hoffmann has also hinted that a hypothetical A3 e-Tron is among the matrix’s plans. It is to be expected that, just as the combustion A3 derives from the Golf, the A3 e-Tron will do the same with the ID.3; however, likely, this model will not see the light of day in the short term, since the CUPRA Born is currently already established as a “premium” alternative to the Volkswagen.
