Given how far Audi has come in the last 20 years, you might think the Ingolstadt boys would be the last brand to start looking backwards. And yet, starting with its re-imagined ur-Quattro, Audi has begun to reference its past work more often, doubtless in an attempt to square its somewhat stodgy past with its fashion-forward present. But then, the ur-Quattro has always been a halo for the brand, in ways that the Audi 80 and its predecessor, sold in the US as the Fox (and later as the 4000), wasn’t always. Don’t get it wrong: the 80, which was sold in Europe from 1966-1996, was by no means a bad car… but the modern Audi era of success didn’t start until the 80 was replaced with the A4. Which is why it’s interesting that Audi’s plans for the next-generation of A3 explicitly reference the nameplate that defined Audi as a solid but decidedly unglamorous premium (rather than luxury) brand.
The reason for this look back to the 80? Emerging markets are demanding more sedan bodystyles and lower costs than the European market that largely shaped Audi’s modern revival, and in order to achieve the brand’s ambitious volume goals, a more approachable vehicle is needed. As Autocar reports
Conceived along similar lines to parent company Volkswagen’s latest Jetta and described as a spiritual successor to the original Audi 80, the new A3 variant is being looked upon to boost Audi sales in markets such as North America, China and Russia, where saloon body styles are traditionally favoured over hatchbacks.
“We’ve looked at the situation very carefully and come to the conclusion that a small sedan (saloon) positioned below the A4 has the potential to significantly increase sales penetration in a number of markets,” an Audi official told Autocar.
The reference to the new Jetta might be a bit troubling for VAG fans who aren’t impressed by the unglamorous side-effects of increased volumes and lower price points, but weak sales of the current A3 in the US market seem to doom it to the same fate as the previous Jetta. And with more size (at just 19 cm shorter than the new Jetta), less cost and the first-ever use of VW’s world-conquering MQB platform, the rebirth of the Fox/4000/80 could be a huge money-maker for Audi. At least as long as it doesn’t drag the brand back to its pre-A4 image…
Seems more like a return to previous generations of the A4, and it’s exactly the kind of car I’d consider if I needed to replace my 1G TSX. Hopefully this “back to basics” approach will translate to lower weight.
Yet another drawing of a car where I think; “I’m sure my golf clubs will physically fit within the trunk, but how the hell can I get them through that “mail slot” they call a trunk lid?”
I had the same reaction to the new Jetta when I saw it. The sloped rear window styling leaves the horizontal opening of the trunk shorter than my hand. How are you supposed to get maneuver several dangling bags of groceries into a trunk like that? Sure, you can fit four whacked gumbas in the trunk space, but they better be frozen stiff so you can slide them in sideways like cordwood.
Why can’t they still do a hatchback that looks like this.? The whole back lifts up, including the rear glass. Better looks and still functional.
They made cars like that in the 80s.
What’s with useless trunk lid openings (a la mailbox)? You can’t fit anything in it! A friend of mine with 2004 Mazda3 sedan could not load a portable house A/C nor into the trunk nor into car itself. I had to cove over with my POS Taurus (according to him) to help him out. I was also able to load at the same time shelving unit and a holdable bike for his daughter into my car.
The Baby Jag was oolala.
The Baby Audi is arright, I guess. As long as we do away with the LED mascara headlamps. That shark’s been jumped quite enough, thanks.
For some reason, I think you’re gonna need a bigger boat.
Take a perfectly good wagon/hatchback and turn it into a useless sedan? How weird is that!
For the A3 to be taken seriously it needs to loose the Golf+ ambiance, get its own platform and real quattro AWD (and not the Golf derived system it has now).
@ carguy –
No, it doesn’t. The A3 is, IIRC, Audi’s best selling model worldwide. For the A3 to be taken seriously in the United States, it needs to lose the hatch and grow a trunk. Take that for what it’s worth, I personally like the hatch, but sales figures for hatches versus notchbacks argue otherwise.
The A3 is a bit of an anomaly: it’s been on sale since late 2005 and as it nears the end of its current life has been selling better than ever thanks to the TDI and facelift over the last two years.
No, what Audi needs in North America is the refreshed A3 in both hatch and notch variants. Now that the A4 has grown and there’s room to position the A3 differently (sexier sheet metal, more youthful appearance), Audi should be able to properly differentiate the car. Toss a notchback into the equation and I bet Audi could easily double sales of the A3 in North America.
Keep in mind that Audi offers few incentives on the A3, they lease horribly (something like 90% are purchased, not leased), and they are severely supply constrained at the moment. I recently spoke with a member of Audi’s dealership board who argued that they would be able to sell another 25% easy if they actually had the product to sell.
Package it well and this car will sell like hotcakes.
I don’t see anything that reminds me of the late, great 4000Q.
Audi — the 4000 and the 5000 — were pretty amazing cars for the time. The brand “came back” with the a4, but lets be honest — what killed it wasn’t the cars. It was 60 minutes.
If anything, looks like jetta based a3. smart for US and China sales.
Why don’t they sell the far more attractive 3 door a3 in the US?
All true. I still think the teutonic design of the 4000, 5000, and Coupe GT from the mid-1980’s were some of the best built and proportioned vehicles of their time. Durable, but not necessarily reliable – especially weak electrics come to mind. 60 minutes and the bumbling drivers confusing the ‘european sized’ brake pedal for the gas (deja vu the Prius) all but killed Audi in the US. The first generation A4 was really handsome and understated – though has grown more corpulent with every iteration. It looks like the A3 sedan may be a return to right-sized Audis.
Think: 3-box, 3-box, 3-box. How hard can it be? A real trunk. What a concept. Otherwise, the car is beautiful.
Gotta say the Fox was a bad car, at least the one my MIL had. Things would break just from being parked.
If you can make a nice looking 5-door then I would prefer it. Just that much more convienient That’s why I bought the A3.
I’ve never liked the A3 5 door. But the proportions on most new small sedans are awful. If anybody could do a small sedan right, it’s probably Audi, but I’d just assume have a sexier-looking version of the current hatch.
Or hell, how about an A3 version of the A5 Sportback?
Maybe they should do something like the Kaiser Traveler then you get the convience of the hatch and make everybody who wants a “sedan” happy.
Honestly, I liked the A4 as a smaller car 1-2 generations ago.
And if it was Audi’s Gateway Drug, then the A3 Sedan if done right will be like absolute Crack cocaine to every American aspiring to a Jetta-Upgrade.
->So I guess the solution for VW’s sales problems in NA is therefore to just sell lots of Audis.
I know it’s just a rendering, but looks like a smaller A4, only better.
Hey!!! It’s the Euro BMW 1-series w/ AWD!
Actually just looked at the numbers – the best selling Audi (consistently for quite a while) is and has been the A4 – it had quite a lead over the A3 in 2010 as well – with 2011 projections showing the same.
This is not to say that a sedan A3 does not make sense for emerging markets – and the US. As already noted, I hope they do not go down the Audi A1 route – that car is differentiated from a VW Polo practically only in exterior looks – the inside is pretty dire for an Audi. But then again, at the A3 sedan size the main volume will be outside of Europe, so price might be more of a draw? Dunno…