Audi A3 Saloon arrives in the UK from £24,275

The Audi A3 Saloon (pictured) arrives in the UK

Audi isn’t afraid of covering every possible niche in its ambition to be the world’s top ‘Premier’ marque, so we now get a third body shape for the new A3 – the Audi A3 saloon.

Designed to sell in markets that prefer a traditional 3-box car to a hatch – like the US and China – Audi still believes there’s a market for an A3 with a boot in the UK, so the new A3 Saloon arrives on sale with a choice, at least initially, of three engines – two petrols and a diesel. Cosmetically, apart from the addition of a boot, the A3 Saloon gets more pronounced curves, bigger wheel arches, new shapes on the bonnet, new bumper, new lights and a boot spoiler.

The A3 Saloon also gets an extra 140mm in length (and 11mm in width) compared to the A3 Sportback and that new boot adds 10 per cent to the volume the Sportback offers.

Initially, there’s a choice of a 1.4 TSI offering 60.1mpg, a 1.8 TSI with 49.6mpg and a 2.0 litre TDI that boasts 67.3mpg, with the petrol engines getting the S Tronic dual-clutch ‘box and the diesel a six-speed manual.

The A3 Saloon comes with sports suspension as standard (although you can opt for a more comfortable setup) and in a choice of Sport or S Line trim with Sports seats, Adaptive Dynamics, Climate, MMI, DAB, iPod and Bluetooth.

The S Line trim also gets part leather, an S Line steering wheel, 18″ alloys, S Line body styling, xenon plus headlights with LED daytime lights and full LED lights available later in the year.

More A3 Saloon engine options will arrive in due course – including an S3 Saloon – but for now the UK gets the three engines and two trim levels with prices from £24,305 for the A3 Sport 1.4TFSI CoD to £28,105 for the A3 S Line 1.8TFSI.

By Cars UK