Audi Q2 Will Be Discontinued After Only One Generation: Official

[Steve Q]

The A1 will also be retired as the Four Rings are switching focus to bigger cars with higher profit margins. 

By: Adrian Padeanu

One of the lesser-known models in Audi's vast range, the Q2 was launched in 2016 before getting a mid-cycle facelift about four years later. It won't live to see a second generation as the German luxury brand has other priorities, specifically focusing on bigger cars with higher profit margins. For this reason, the A1 supermini will also bow out after the current generation runs its course.

 

The announcement about axing its smallest crossover was made earlier this week by Audi CEO Markus Duesmann in an interview with Handelsblatt (subscription required): "We have decided not to build the A1 anymore, and there will be no successor model from the Q2 either. We have also realigned Audi as a premium brand. We will limit our model range at the bottom and expand it at the top. 

We should point out the Q2 is not only built at home in Ingolstadt, but also in China where it goes by the name of Q2L to reflect its longer wheelbase for greater rear legroom. In addition, the baby crossover sold in the People's Republic comes in an E-Tron flavor with all-electric propulsion. The zero-emissions model is only sold locally and has a 38-kWh battery pack good for 165 miles (265 kilometers) of range based on the local NEDC test cycle.

 

Elsewhere, Audi's entry-level Q model is offered in a potent SQ2 specification with standard Quattro and a 2.0-liter gasoline engine producing 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters) of torque sent via a dual-clutch, seven-speed automatic transmission. The performance version is essentially a more luxurious version of the Volkswagen T-Roc R, which was facelifted in November 2021. 

The A1 and Q2 will be retired after the current-generation models when the A3 will effectively become the entry point into Audi's global lineup. Further down the line, the company will launch its last new vehicle equipped with a combustion engine in 2026 before ending production of ICE cars in 2033. However, the assembly of gasoline-fueled vehicles could continue for a few more years in China, depending on demand.

Meanwhile, the lineup will grow to include the Q6 E-Tron due to be unveiled before the end of the year as Audi's first product based on the PPE platform co-developed with Porsche. In China, a Volkswagen Atlas-based SUV is said to arrive in 2022 with the rather confusing Q6 moniker. Also coming this year is the facelifted E-Tron, believed to change its name to Q8 E-Tron to better reflect its positioning in the range. 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.motor1.com/news/566211/audi-q2-to-be-discontinued/amp/

[Stevey Y]

Hi , is it me or does it seem like we are going to be forced in to high priced electric vehicles, I wouldn't mind betting that in ten years second hand conventional vehicles will be making telephone number prices and Audis hard won market share will be reduced as its only the rich and those that know nothing about cars and want a serious second mortgage that will be buying them, one of my friends last year purchased an all electric Kia Niro, Mr got to have the latest tech is now thoroughly Pixxed off with it as the recent cold snap has cut his battery range even further, you can be told the technology is ever improving I find that about as plausible as us ever eradicating Covid but it seems they will yet force us to buy these things by using the much over used statement that its better for the environment a statement that is on par with the story of the kings new clothes. Depressing isn't it.

Steve.

[Steve Q]

Very depressing. The irony is that I don't think there's enough prescious metals for the batteries to get us to 2030. 

As you say Steve the aim is to price us off the road. However the only way round it all I see is to have an old Mercedes (1980s one) and run it on cooking oil. Or a Mercedes engine powered car.