New Audi A1 to get Colored Roof Arches [with Video]

More or less, we know what the production Audi A1 that will have its online premiere in early February prior to its physical debut at the Geneva Salon in March, will look like. The Germans showed the car in near production guise through the 2007 Metroproject Quattro (3door) and more recently with the A1 Sportback concepts.

We've even seen the actual production model snapped alongside Justin Timberlake. But Audi's marketing team insists on releasing various tidbits about its sporty supermini.

In this latest video interview, the A1's exterior designer, Jürgen Löffler, reveals that Audi has kept the 3door concept model's contrasting roof arches and that customers will be able to order the roof arch in a variety of colors, regardless of the body color of the car.

He also talks about the A1's shoulder line that Audi names "tornado line", which wraps the car completely around beginning up front with the single-frame grille, extending over the front lights and the side to the tail lights and the rear hatch.

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VIDEO: 2011 Audi A1's R8-Style LED Headlights Explained

The guy you see pictured above is André Georgi, light designer at Audi, and the car shadowed behind him, Ingolstadt's answer to the BMW Group's MINI hatch, the all-new A1 that will be officially unveiled in February. And yes, Audi's latest video teaser on the A1 is all about the sporty hatchback's headlamps and in particular, the LED daytime running lights.

"On the A1, the front gets its character from a completely new form of LED daytime running lights. We have given our newcomer the sportiness of the R8 and the elegance of the A8," says Georgi. You can watch the film after the jump but you won't hear us complain if you decide to pass...

Video Interview with Audi Marketing Boss on 2011 A1 Mini

Just so you know, Audi will constantly be harassing us publishing information and teaser videos/pictures on its A1 mini until the online premiere of the car that's planned for early February. Following the release of a couple of clips and a teaser graffiti back in December, the Germans came out today with a video interview Audi marketing boss, Peter Schwarzenbauer, who talks about the 2011 A1 from a sale perspective.

Among other things, Schwarzenbauer says that the company is currently expecting to sell around 80,000 units of its MINI Cooper and Alfa Romeo MiTo competitor in the car's first full year. Watch the 'self-made' interview after the jump.

Audi e-tron Detroit Concept: All New Electric Sports Coupe, Smaller than the TT

Just a few months after the debut of the Audi e-tron at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi unveiled a second full-electric sports car concept at the Detroit show today. Bypassing the silly and confusing 'Detroit showcar Audi e-tron' name, the German firm's new concept model is said to provide a vision of how a small sports car positioned below R8 could look like.

Like the original e-tron, the new two-seater concept is built around Audi's ASF lightweight aluminium space frame and features a carbon fibre reinforced plastic hybrid body that helps keep weight down to 1,350kg or 2,976 lbs.

However, at 3.93 metres (154.7 inches) long, 1.78 meters (70 inches) wide and 1.22 meters (48 inches) tall, the new concept is much more compact in size than the Frankfurt Show e-tron (4.26 meters long, 1.9 meters wide and 1.23 meters tall). It's even shorter than the TT that measures 4.17 meters or 164.5 inches in length.

Whereas the original e-tron was fitted with four-electric motors, two at each axle, the Detroit showcar gets two motors that drive the rear wheels and can operate independently.

Audi says that the twin-motors deliver a combined output of 150 kW or 204 horsepower and peak torque of 2,650Nm or 1954.54 lb-ft accelerating the coupe from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in just 5.9 seconds. The e-tron accomplishes the sprint from 60 to 120 km/h (37- 74 mph) in 5.1 seconds.

The concept's top speed is limited to 124mph or 200km/h, as Audi claims that the amount of energy required by the electric motors increases disproportionately to speed.

The baby e-tron's lithium batteries that are mid-mounted and tip the scales at 399kg or 880 lbs, offer a driving range of around 155 miles or 250 km. They can be fully charged through a 230v household outlet in about 11 hours, but Audi says that a heavy current (400 volts, 32 amperes) can cut the time to just about two hours.