By Gilles Guillaume
PARIS, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Premium German car brand Audi on Monday introduced a new compact electric vehicle to boost its presence at the smaller end of the European market, where Chinese automakers are launching more affordable models, and help revive its global sales.
Sales at Audi, a unit of Volkswagen, have fallen for two consecutive years and slid 7% in the first half of 2026 as fierce competition in China and U.S. tariffs hit demand.
“In Europe, we need compact and efficient cars for the future,” Audi CEO Gernot Doellner told Reuters in a two-century-old industrial building in the heart of Paris where the new A2 e-tron was revealed to the press.
“Premium cannot just mean more — more power, more resources — it has to mean using resources more intelligently.”
The new A2 is a revival of a nameplate from the early 2000s, but boasts modern features such as low power consumption of 12.8 kilowatt hours per 100 km, making it the most efficient model in the brand’s history, Audi said. The vehicle has a maximum range of 646 km (401 miles).
DELIVERIES TO START IN DECEMBER
The A2 will be made at the automaker’s plant in Ingolstadt, Germany, with deliveries beginning in December.
“We see ourselves in a strong position when it comes to electromobility,” Doellner said, when asked about intense Chinese EV competition in Europe.
Last week Volkswagen’s supervisory board unanimously approved sweeping job cuts in an effort to counter painful tariffs, overcapacity and aggressive Chinese rivals.
Audi’s Neckarsulm plant in south-west Germany is one of four German Volkswagen plants threatened with possible closure after 2030.
“We have to review what we are doing in Neckarsulm right now,” Doellner said. He said there is no new model allocated at that plant after 2034, and the automaker will work with union representatives “to find measures to optimize the factory”.
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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