[Image Source: CAR]

Showing traces of VW's IROC concept, Audi is set to take the suddenly-hot hot-hatch war to the streets. Following BMW's 1-Series and MINI, Daimler's SMART ForTwo, and Fiat's re-born 500, Audi appears ready to inject a dose of Teutonic cool into the economy class segment.

Lucky CAR magazine (they really are) received the first drawings of the two-door hatchback and posted them on their site today. And they got former Audi boss Martin Winterkorn to comment.

'[The A1] demonstrates our packaging skills - this is a more attractive second car. With the new four-door polo waiting in the wings, conceiving a structurally similar but visually very different version for Audi is not exactly rocket science," Herr Winterkorn said.

Audi will design the A1 to keep in line with the rest of the quad-ringed family by ensuring that the model will have Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system.

So your move, Mercedes-Benz. And no, the A-Class doesn't count.

[Source: CAR]