SHANGHAI AUTO SHOW: Audi plans a Prius – made with carbon-fibre and aluminium

Next generation A2 small car is going to be a hi-tech hybrid
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German car maker Audi is working on a Prius of its own -- a bespoke model designed to showcase the company's innovations including hybrid power and lightweight components such as carbon-fibre and aluminium.

As part of its plans to revive its A2 small car the company says it will put all its knowhow into one affordable vehicle -- mirroring the original A2 model (pictured) which was also ahead of its time, but failed to make a profit.

"One of the niches we are looking at is to fill the gap between the A1 and A3," the head of Audi vehicle concepts, Roman Schindlmaister, told the Carsales Network at Auto Shanghai yesterday. "It will be the successor to the A2 [but] it will take the idea of the A2 into the future.

"The original A2 was a really intelligent car but the next car is not only going to use the aluminium material, but the right material on the proper place. We will not only use one material on the whole car."

He then hinted to other special edition vehicles such as the new RS3 and the Quattro concept, which uses a mix of carbon-fibre and aluminium panels. And that the next A2 it would be a hybrid vehicle.

"This car will be an interesting car in terms of new drivetrains," he said. "At the moment ... the battery gives us some problems so we have to bring it in the right position in the car," indicating that it would be packaged low in the body for better handling.

"If you have a car with a higher body maybe it's not so sporty," he said. "But if you had a car that had a progressive way to distribute the weight, then this is better."

When asked if the model would be exclusively hybrid, he said: "We are thinking about this."

When asked if the new A2 was going to look like a two-box design shape like the original A2 (or a Prius) he said: "We are not ready with the styling."

The next generation A2 is at least two to three years away, insiders estimate.

Meanwhile, although Audi has released six E-Tron electric car concepts over the past two years, only one has been approved for full production -- the original Audi R8-based E-Tron.

Audi says prototypes are testing and the finished car will be on the road by the end of 2012. Final production numbers have not been released but would be closer to 500 in total -- rather than thousands.

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