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The new Audi 50 was to be up-to-date and versatile - and round off the model range with the Audi 80 and Audi 100. As early as 1970, the engineers at Audi NSU Auto Union AG set to work, led by Chief Technical Officer Ludwig Kraus: a successor was needed for the tried-and-tested NSU small cars, the end of production of which was in sight. The developers always have the following goal in mind: „A contemporary car must also be true to size“, as can be read in the concept for the Audi 50. The key to success is the transverse-mounted engine. With it, the Ingolstadt-based company creates a car that offers a relatively large interior with an overall length of just 3.49 metres. The „little Audi“, which weighs just 685 kilograms, is launched in two versi- ons: the Audi 50 LS with 50 hp and the Audi 50 GL with 60 hp, both with a 1.1-litre engine. The Audi 50 LS has a top speed of 142 kilometres per hour, the Audi 50 GL a top speed of 152 kilometres per hour. While the 50 hp version runs on regular petrol, the 10 hp more powerful unit requires premium fuel. In 1977, this variant was replaced by a newly de- veloped 1,300 cubic centimetre engine that ran on normal petrol. Hartmut Warkuß, who had also desi- gned the Audi 80, was responsible for the design of the Audi 50. Warkuß draws a timeless, filigree form around Ludwig Kraus‘ package.
Ingolstadt presents the Audi 50 to the international media in Sardinia in the summer of 1974. It arrives at dealerships for the first time on 26 October: the Audi 50 LS costs 8,195 marks, the Audi 50 GL 8,510 marks. The „little Audi“ is initially planned and de- veloped in Neckarsulm, later in Ingolstadt Techni- cal Development, and finally built at the Volkswa- gen plant in Wolfsburg. By 31 March 1975, exactly 43,002 Audi 50s had rolled off the production line there, after which the series production of the al- most identical VW Polo also began. Production of the Audi 50 ends in the summer of 1978, with a to- tal of 180,828 units produced. From then on, Audi concentrated increasingly on mid-range cars and segments above this. Even though the Audi 50 was only on the market for a few years, it established the small car segment in the Volkswagen Group: Millions of the VW Polo were built in its various ge- nerations.