Audi A2 e-tron Coming This Fall

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The Audi A2 went into production in the fall of 1999. While its styling won critical acclaim, it failed to attract the number of buyers the company anticipated. When it went out of production in August of 2005, only 176,377 A2 cars had been sold — less the 20 percent of the sales enjoyed by the Mercedes A-Class.

After the car won a design award in 2001, the UK product manager for Audi said the mission for the A2 was to “create a small Audi, not a cheap Audi.” The company claimed its goal was to make a car that could “transport four people from Stuttgart to Milan on a single tank of petrol,” according to Wikipedia.

Stateside readers may not be familiar with the A2, as it was never imported to the US. Its low sales mean many Europeans never got a chance to familiarize themselves with it either, thanks to its fairly dismal sales record.

The main feature of the car was that is was made mostly of aluminum to reduce its weight and boost its fuel economy. The finished car weighed just 830 kg (1830 lb). A specially equipped “3L” version with a diesel engine, automatic gearbox, stop-start system, and narrow tires was the first production car in Europe to use fewer than 3 liters of fuel to drive 100 km. It had a fuel economy rating of 78.4 mpg (US).

The car broke new ground for Audi, as it used an aluminum space frame for the first time in the company’s history, but the choice of aluminum made the car expensive to produce, which made it largely unprofitable. The Mercedes A-Class was similar in size but priced lower. Given a choice between new technology at a higher price and proven technology at at lower price, customers voted with their wallets for the less expensive Mercedes, which brought production of the A2 to an untimely end.

Audi A2 e-tron Coming

In a press release dated March 17, 2026, Audi announced a new entry level A2 e-tron will be available in the fall of this year. The teaser image tells us little about the car. Although, the silhouette bears a passing resemblance to the original. It may be an amalgam of what is available in the Volkswagen Group ID.3 parts bin, but the company assures us the A2 e-tron will be a proper Audi that will provide “premium electric mobility.”

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said, “We’ve listened. Our customers want electric mobility that impresses in everyday life. The A2 e-tron is our promise to deliver exactly that — efficient, compact, and confident. We’re making entry into the electric Audi world easier and more relevant than ever. The A2 e-tron is crucial for our brand and also for our German home. With the production of an additional fully electric model family in Ingolstadt, we are securing jobs and delivering electric mobility ‘made in Germany.’”

Audi notes the market for compact electric vehicles continues to grow — especially in large European cities. “With the new A2 e-tron, Audi is targeting a broad international customer base that values everyday usability in the city, sustainability, high efficiency, and digital connectivity. The A2 e-tron strengthens a younger, clearer, and increasingly electric portfolio and makes entering the brand more modern and more relevant for new target groups. Its name is a deliberate nod to the Audi A2, which pioneered efficiency and urban mobility over 25 years ago. The new A2 e-tron carries this mission forward into the electric age.”

The EV Revolution Evolves

When the EV revolution began, everybody wanted to make big, expensive, high-profit cars, because who doesn’t like profits? But that meant many of the models on offer were too expensive for average car buyers, which allowed anti-EV influencers to exploit that weakness.

Now the market is moving toward lower priced EVs that actual people can afford, and not a moment too soon. Volkswagen is on the verge of introducing the ID. Polo and ID. Cross, while Kia is set to introduce the EV2 in Europe. BYD is pushing the technology forward with new fast charging batteries that can be replenished in about the same time as it takes to fill a gas tank. Charging infrastructure is growing steadily, even in the US.

We don’t know what the business case for the A2 e-tron is, but surely the company has done its homework and is reasonably certain if they build it, the customers will come. We know it will never be seen on US highways, so chalk this up as one more battery-powered car that Americans will not get. So much winning going on in the US today. Or should we say whining?