The long awaited Audi A1 super mini is now launched in Germany and will soon hit the other European markets. Audi has big plans for this little car, by the end of 2010 there will be 50,000 units of A1 out and they expect average production volumes of 100,000 A1 units per year. The starting price for this model is €15,800 (£13,145 in UK) and it goes up to around €23,000 for the top of the range model. That is not cheap, but they’ve priced it like the Mini, its main rival.

“Reports from our international dealers show us that interest in the A1 is exceeding our expectations considerably,” commented Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG. “We will therefore increase our production capacity by 20 percent.”

The Audi A1 will be launched with three appealing engine options: the 1.2 TFSI, the 1.4 TFSI and the 1.6 TDI. Each engine features direct injection, turbocharging and a start-stop system with braking energy recovery. The A1 is the only car in its segment to combine a start-stop system with an automatic transmission.