Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Audi A2
Summary
The Audi A2 (internally designated Typ 8Z) is a compact MPV-styled supermini car, with a five-door hatchback body style and four or five seats, produced by the German manufacturer Audi from November 1999 (for the 2000 model year) to August 2005. Based on the Audi Al2 concept car first shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997, the A2 was notable for being constructed from aluminium, which in combination with its efficient engines, made it an extremely economical car on fuel.
Packages available in Germany included 'Advance', 'Style', 'High Tech', and later 'S line'; whereas in the United Kingdom, the A2 was available in various trim levels, including: 'Standard', 'SE' (for 'Special Equipment'), 'Sport', 'Special Edition' (2005 only).
The A2 was produced at Audi's "aluminium" Neckarsulm plant in Germany on a special line purpose-built for it. It was the first five-door vehicle on sale in Europe with an average fuel consumption less than , although these figures only applied to the special "3L" version with a diesel engine, automatic gearbox, stop-start system, less power and narrower tyres. Due to its construction, the average A2 weighs 830 kg. The last A2s to be produced were built in August 2005.
The A2 was a surprise when it debuted only two years after the original Al2 study. Many initial reviews, including those from What Car? and Autocar in the UK commented on the design.
"The best thing about the A2 is that it isn’t merely a design exercise. Yes, it’s a great car to look at, sit in and touch, but it’s also a riot to drive".
The avant-garde styling did not, however, win favour with some potential customers. Audi was reported to be disappointed with the level of sales. The final production was only 176,377 units, in comparison to rival Mercedes-Benz's A-Class sales of 1 million.
The overriding theme in the design and engineering of the A2 was summarized by the then Audi UK product manager in an interview after the car won a design award in 2001 as "create a small Audi, not a cheap Audi", and the creative brief is said to have been "Transport four people from Stuttgart to Milan on a single tank of petrol".
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.