CEO says Audi will bring small cars to China

Shanghai, October 8 (Gasgoo.com) A top executive of Audi AG, Volkswagen AG's luxury-car brand, disclosed at the ongoing 2008 Paris Motor Show that the German automaker has plans to introduce the Audi A1-like small cars to China following the model’s European sale.

Audi unveiled a new compact five-door hybrid Audi A1 Sportback concept along with the S4 and an eco-A4 capable of 58.9mpg at the event. Chief Executive Officer Rupert Stadler told reporters that he is confident the A1 car will make a success in Europe, the only market where it will primarily target.

The A1 is a hybrid with a 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine with 148bhp backed up by a 27bhp electric motor that chips in with an extra 111lb ft of torque when the car accelerates. That means performance figures of 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds, a 124mph top speed, with consumption figures of 72.4mpg and emissions of 92g/km of CO2.

Stadler said the A1-like fuel efficient small cars are bound for the Chinese market, but he acknowledged the automaker will not develop a model particularly for the Chinese market as some others do.

He also confirmed the long-awaited Audi Q5 model, a premium car which made its global debut at the 2008 Beijing auto show this April, will be built in China at VW's the Changchun plant in early 2010. 

Audi car sales worldwide jumped 12% to 95,137 units in September compared with 84,716 a year earlier, the Ingolstadt, a Germany-based company, said recently. In China Audi sales rose 24% to 11,169 vehicles last month.