Audi A1 Coming To Thailand?

[phl]

Was just wondering if anyone had any info if Audi A1 would be sold in Thailand?

I have already seen a few imports the sports version, but Audi has 3 versions

The cheapest one in Oz is $26500=800 000 baht. so in Thailand with the tax, i am guessing it would be around 950 000 or so.

Not bad looking vehicle with pretty good performance according to reviews., plus i love german cars.

Use to own BMW, but no way i can afford it in Thailand, while this new A1 is pretty cheap in comparison to other (higher) models

[funcat]

If it was sold here for 950K,I'll buy it myself,but I'm afraid it will be more than that...much more

[kartman]

Quite a few on One2Car at approx 2 million baht if you compare their spec with Aus price give you some idea of price difference but i can't see anybody bringing the cheapest presumably manual model here.

[phl]

Quite a few on One2Car at approx 2 million baht if you compare their spec with Aus price give you some idea of price difference but i can't see anybody bringing the cheapest presumably manual model here.

The ones on one2car are the sports versions, which retail in Oz for over $45 000=1350000

And also those are imports, i was hoping/wondering if Audi itself would introduce the range

It would be a very smart move, no doubt it will do really well if well priced

[kartman]

So now you know the 'mark up' and don't imports normally undercut officially marketed models? unless the importers know that it won't be coming here so they can set their own market price.

[VocalNeal]

There are quite a few A1's in Bangkok. Agreed one doesn't see them everyday but....

[phl]

So now you know the 'mark up' and don't imports normally undercut officially marketed models? unless the importers know that it won't be coming here so they can set their own market price.

i have no idea how things work, this is why was asking if Audi is planning to officially sell the A1 model and all 3 versions of it

[steveromagnino]

You can get the officially imported version via MTM (which is part of the official importer DAD part of Yontrakit/THai Yarnyon who handle several VW brands - VW, Skoda, Seat, Audi) which is a reworked 122HP version and ends up with around 155HP for about 2.3m baht, badged MTM and I think has a slightly different body kit etc. Audi Thailand only bring in the A1 as the A1 MTM version I think because there is a tax benefit to bringing it in as 122HP then working it here (they also own ABT).

The grey market 122HP S line version is available from the grey market in multiple places around 1.9-2.2m

The grey market 185HP S line version top of the line one is available from the grey market in multiple places around 2.7m

Grey market theoretically means for a less popular car:

- perhaps some issue in servicing later on (most of the grey market importers have big showrooms, not so big workshops, if something major goes wrong Audi Thailand won't help you, no one will have the part to help you, you will be waiting for parts for months)

- perhaps some issue in paperwork if the car has been imported with doctored paperwork (in the case of the audi the tiny engine and relatively high price means it may be ok, my guess is you would want to check the 185HP one very very carefully though as it may have been brought in as an S line 122HP one)

- arguably worse resale, however Audi is not a popular brand here anyhow, so the A1s are mostly grey market except for the MTM ones, not sure the difference would be great

For a Mini Cooper S, you have thousands of them here and specialist mini workshops like Sooper Garage, I would contact Sooper to see if they also know how to work on an Audi; A1 Motors and a few others also specialise in VW; having a place to take it should it need servicing is reasonably important. Personally, I would not buy a grey market car (due in part to my job), but for others I would also say well maybe not such a great idea unless it was a very sharp price and the car was sufficiently popular that there would be garages who could fix it. You save when you buy it (in some cases a HUGE amount such as Frankphuket in the hot hatch thread who got a Golf GTI NEW for 1.9mb) but when you sell it grey market usually is a little lower than legit.

If you want a bit of an orphan, there is a VW Polo also with 185HP (same engine, much the same running gear as the A1) for 1.55m baht. Also, it is (IMHO) quite an ugly swine with conservative styling exterior wise, but the Skoda Fabia RS can be reworked also with the twin scroll engine to get to 204HP; already worked and with 100k/5 years servicing from the legit importer (DAD) it is also only 1.5m baht.

AFAIK there is almost no margin for this sort of car and Audi are relatively weak in Thailand which is why they don't bring in many. The A3 is a more likely one to bring in, but will be priced around 3m baht at a guess, since the Golf and Scirocco are already around 2.6m baht.

I have also looked at an A1, but the estimated future poor resale and lack of servicing pushed me towards the following as alternatives all of which are quicker than the 2.1-2.3m baht A1s and are arguably better driving cars (The 2.7m A1 with 185HP I would love to have a drive and suspect it would be pretty awesome):

Mini Cooper S

Golf GTI

Scirocco GTI

If you really want a driver's car get Frankphuket's GP Mini, that would smoke an A1.

Also the A1 has a lousy, lousy rear seat, unlike the mini you get a little leg room, but no head room; the Polo and the Fabia are both much better thought out if you ever need a 3rd or 4th person who is not vertically challenged sitting in the back. I do love Audi's styling inside though, A3 is certainly a possibility for the future, but the Benz A class and new Golf will be better value almost for sure.