There are already quite a few foreign compact class vehicles at this time. But German car manufacturers are seriously lagging behind in this class. Audi has a proven record also under the umbrella of Daimler Benz of initiating a lot of innovations, e.g., the medium pressure engine. A small vehicle of Audi comes in almost at the same time as the crude oil-prize crisis hits, becoming a success.This is astonishing considering its price of approx. 10,000 DM. It is clearly higher than the original price of the Audi 100 in 1968. But the new vehicle consumes only two-thirds of the fuel of the Audi 100 and is at least even spacious with its transverse engine. The back rest may be folded down and the car has a large trunk opening, larger than all its middle class Audi models.In collaboration with VW, a cheaper, but also clearly emaciated version, the VW Polo is developed a year later built together with the Golf/Scirocco as some parts are common.