You've more or less answered your own question: When it comes to prestige makes and models, you'll often find you're paying for the brand image and how a car looks rather than what's in it. It's also very common for luxury brands to make many convenience and tech features part of an additional option pack that costs more for gear you might find standard in some more mainstream makes and models. That's just marketing for you.

A great example was the original Mercedes-Benz C-Class back in the late 1980s. This was Mercedes' first attempt at a cheaper car (to compete with the BMW 3-Series) and while it was nicely built and very solid, it had a small, relatively underpowered engine and a very plain interior. The argument was that you were paying for the core Mercedes engineering.

These days, there's also a compulsion to keep weight out of cars. Electric seats operate with electric motors and are notoriously heavy. By using manual seats, Audi can keep the kerb mass down which helps with handling, fuel economy and makes more of the relatively small engine fitted. Not to mention it gives the buyer the impetus to move up to the more expensive model with electric seats. Again, it's called marketing.

Thank you for you question, as this is an interesting one.

The current Audi Q2 shares its advanced MQB-A0 platform with other Volkswagen Group notables like the Audi A1, Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen T-Cross, Skoda Kamiq and Seat Arona, and so is the corporation's smallest SUV architecture to date.

If there was to be an Audi Q1, it might sit on the all-new MEB-Lite electrified architecture that is set to spawn a host of small vehicles including an all-EV replacement for the sadly-discontinued Volkswagen Up.

Nothing is confirmed, but that's what our money would be on if a baby Audi SUV or crossover ever eventuates.