Introduced two and three years after the French Renault 5 and the Italian Fiat 127 respectively, the Audi 50 and its VW Polo twin were seen at the time as Germany's first home-grown entrant in Europe's emerging class of "supermini" hatchbacks, supplanting a generation of small and often rear-engined economy cars.

Only the NSU-developed, Volkswagen K70 badged compact sedan (originally intended to bridge the gap between NSU's small cars and their upper middle-class Ro80), added a modern, front-wheel drive, boxy and stylish mid-market sedan to top VW's range, from 1970.

The Audi 50 offered a single, three-door hatchback body-style with a folding rear seat for maximum space utilisation and flexibility.

Metallic paint could be selected, and the GL trim had a more plushly appointed interior, and extra chrome details.

[4] The Audi's front suspension is independent, by MacPherson struts, using telescopic coil over shocks, and single, transverse lower A-arms.

The twist-beam rear suspension was simple yet advanced for its day, using a semi-independent, C- or H‑shaped combination of longitudinal (semi-)trailing arms, welded together with a transverse anti-roll bar, also completed by coil springs and shock absorbers.