Audi is set to revive the A2 name for its new distinctively styled entry-level model, senior sources at the company have revealed.

Due to be unveiled before the end of the year, the new model is seen as an indirect modern-day successor to the early-noughties original.

It will feature – as test mules have shown – a one-box exterior design with a short bonnet and split-window tailgate highly reminiscent of that car, albeit in a package that is more overtly a crossover.

The new electric model, which is likely to take the same E-tron suffix as Audi's other EVs, is already in the final stages of development ahead of a planned start to sales early next year. It will indirectly replace the A1 and Q2 in Audi's line-up. Production of those two models is due to end in late 2026.

With prices set to start at around £30k, it will also become the company's most affordable electric offering yet, slotting into the line-up below the Q4 E-tron, which is priced from £47k. By comparison, the A1 starts at £24k and the Q2 at £28k.

The incoming A2 was originally planned to sit on the Volkswagen Group's 800V SSP platform, but due to long-running delays with that architecture it will instead be based on the same variant of the group's ubiquitous MEB platform as the Volkswagen ID 3.

This uses a 400V system and rear-wheel drive. In the ID 3, it is offered with battery sizes ranging from 58kWh to 79kWh and power spanning 168bhp to 282bhp.

Given the more slippery-looking shape of the A2 – as seen on test mules – the top-end range could surpass the ID 3 hatch's 370 miles.

Within Audi, the new A2 is not simply regarded as a premium mini-MPV to rival the likes of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Instead, engineers talk about it filling a void in the market left by the BMW i3, which was produced between 2013 and 2022.

They also point to the first- and second-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, with their space-efficient flat floor 'sandwich' platform, as an example of where and how the new A2 will be positioned.