Audi A2 Still Coming, Getting Bigger: Report

Audi's on-again off-again A2 is expected to grow in size, according to a recent UK report.

The original A2, an advanced aluminum-bodied city car from 1999, was ahead of its time. Some versions had stop-start (unique for its time), and the most frugal A2 achieved 3.0 l/100km on the European combined cycle.

The lightest weighed in at a scant 895kg - that's small two-door sports-car territory.

The baby Audi was meant to combat the slightly more conventional A-Class, but it disappointed in that respect, with its big price tag leading to underwhelming sales during the car's six year lifespan.

The A2 sold around 180,000 units; the A-Class a rather more impressive million.

Recent reports from Europe had suggested the axe had fallen on the new generation A2, which was shown last year in concept form at the Frankfurt Show.

As the name indicates, the new A2 was designed to fit between the tiny A1 and the A3 small car in Audi's current naming regime.

But according to Autocar, market research saw the concept declared too small, particularly the rear seat accommodation.

The report says that the A2 will grow almost 30 centimetres in length and six centimetres in height, making it just a whisker smaller than the A3 and almost the same size as the Volkswagen Golf.

To achieve this, the A2 will supposedly move to the larger version of the VW Group's MQB platform on which almost everything in the family will soon be based.

It is also rumoured that the concept's electric e-Tron driveline will not be available at launch, supposedly because BMW has lost interest in electric cars (this week's i3 event notwithstanding).

Despite the big change, the 2014 launch date is reportedly still in Audi's sights. We'll keep you updated.

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