Audi has announced the start of production of its new A1 Sportback in Spain, with the second-generation hatchback interestingly being built at Seat’s factory in Martorell.
The new A1 will be built exclusively at the Spanish plant, which also produced the outgoing Q3 (starting in mid-2011 for a total of more than 800 000 units). The first-generation A1 was made in Brussels, while the new Q3 is produced in Hungary.
The latest A1 will be produced across two shifts on the plant’s revamped “Line 3” using the Volkswagen Group’s latest MQB A0 platform.
In addition to the new A1, the Martorell factory also builds the fifth-generation Seat Ibiza as well as the new Seat Arona.
“Over the last years, the Martorell plant with its highly qualified employees has produced our Audi Q3 and made this model a great success,” said Peter Kössler, board member for production and logistics at Audi.
“The plant has gained a lot of experience with our extremely quality oriented Audi production system. Therefore, Martorell is for us the ideal place to manufacture our new Audi A1, one of our strategic pillars in this segment,” he added.
Now offered exclusively in five-door Sportback guise, the new model measures 4 030 mm long, 1 740 mm wide and 1 410 mm tall. Luggage capacity has increased by 65 litres to a claimed 335 litres, a figure that grows to 1 090 litres with the rear seats folded down.
