Audi could hardly be launching a more important car right now. We’ve seen a significant run of new product from Audi, including the latest Q5 SUV, its all-electric Q6 e-tron brother, and a pair of new A6 saloons and estates; one fully electric, the other focused on hybrid and combustion engines.
This, the new Q3, is the most important of the lot. Depending on where you put a pin in the map or a mark on the timeline, this is the biggest-selling modern Audi. Two million Q3s have been sold since the model was first introduced in 2011, and last year, even though the current model has been around since 2018, it was Audi’s bestselling model in Ireland, with 1,243 finding homes.
The new Q3 also arrives at a time when Audi, long since the profit engine of the mighty Volkswagen Group, has faltered, seeing sales and profits weaken, redundancies among its workforce and its factory in Belgium shut its doors thanks to a lack of interest in the Q8 e-tron model it was making. The mighty may not have fallen, but they’ve certainly staggered a bit.
The Q3, despite its compact physical dimensions, might be the car to right the ship – if you’ll forgive the mixed metaphors.
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Gernot Dollner, Audi’s chief executive, said at the reveal of the new model: “With a total of more than two million vehicle sales worldwide since the launch of the first generation, the Audi Q3 is one of our bestselling products and has a high status in our portfolio. With the third generation of the Audi Q3, we are renewing an important model family as part of our product initiative, and strengthening our range with a powerful plug-in hybrid and efficient combustion engines.”
The fact that the new Q3 is a plug-in hybrid rather than being fully electric probably saves its sales bacon for a few years yet, as many of the model’s more traditional buyers are probably feeling a bit battery-phobic so far.
What might push the Q3 forward, in sales terms, is its new styling. Previously, the Q3 has been very stylistically an upsized A3 hatchback. Now, it looks far more like a downsized Q5 or Q6, and that is a significant distinction.
The new Q3 follows current Audi orthodoxy with the big grille that takes up most of the front end, topped with a set of slim, pixellated LED running lights, and with the larger main headlight sections cunningly hidden in the front bumper’s air intake. Their micro-LED technology is said to allow for better lighting at night, and with less dazzle for other road users.
At the rear there’s a light-up Audi four-ring badge and more LED brake lights, which in fact use OLED technology for greater lighting power and sharp images, which can even flash emergency symbols to cars following behind.
The cabin lifts its large, curving, combined digital instrument panel and 12.8-inch touchscreen more or less entirely from the A5 saloon and estate, which means a largely digitised cockpit with few physical buttons.
Even the gear selector for the standard automatic gearbox has been moved to the steering column, which frees up some useful extra storage space on the centre console.
Thankfully, Audi has at least retained a proper physical volume knob for the stereo. Meanwhile, the software for the main touchscreen has been significantly updated, giving it a leaner, more phone-like menu layout thanks to software based on Google’s Android operating system, which means you’ll be able to add apps such as YouTube to the touchscreen.
Much of the interior trim and upholstery is made from 100 per cent recycled plastics, including plastics recovered from discarded fishing nets.
Refinement should be impressive, as there is the option of acoustic glass for the side windows, while in the back, the rear bench seat slides back and forth so that you can juggle luggage space with rear seat legroom. Speaking of which, the 488-litre boot is a touch on the small side, which perhaps is down to Audi’s keenness on the Chinese market, which tends to favour rear seat space over luggage volume. Mind you, if you slide the rear bench all the way forwards (wiping out rear seat legroom in the process), there is up to 575 litres of space available.
The entry-level engines are familiar – there’s a 150hp 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol with mild-hybrid assistance and cylinder shutdown tech for fuel saving, or a 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine with the same power output (yes, a diesel, really). There will also be a 204hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol with quattro four-wheel drive, and even a variant of that model with 265hp. Of potentially more interest is the 270hp plug-in hybrid system, which is already in service in several Cupra models, and which promises up to 120km of electric-only range from its 19kWh battery. It can be fast-charged at up to 50kW from a DC charging point, too.
Audi says the Q3 should be sportier to drive too, thanks to optional sports suspension and special twin-valve suspension dampers. There’s also a ramping-up of electronic driver assistance, including active lane-changing and a parking assistant that can remember your most common manoeuvres, although some of the systems rely on online data, and so you’ll have to pony up for a continued connection after three years.
You’ll be able to order your new Q3 this summer, and the first deliveries will start in Germany in September, with Ireland most likely following in time for the January plate-change. German prices start from €44,600, which suggests a base price of about €53,000 here.
