Audi is gearing up for the launch of another niche-filling compact model. This time, it’s a jacked-up version of the A3 Sportback, which borrows some of the company’s a lot more rugged design cues to create a new model that will fill the void between the Q2 and Q3 SUVs.
The new Audi A3 Citycarver will follow the same design brief as the A1 Citycarver supermini, which was launched at the beginning of last year. However, due to that car’s poor sales performance in the UK, automobile express understands that Audi will not be bringing the A3 version to Britain.
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As shown by our spy shots, the A3 Citycarver will get a similar styling treatment to the Allroad variants of the A4 and A6 Avant, with chunky front and rear bumpers, a raised ride- height, plastic wheel arch extensions and bigger alloy wheels wrapped in all-season tyres.
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However, despite the styling similarities, Audi isn’t expected to use its Allroad nameplate for the jacked-up A3 because the hatchback won’t be available with its quattro all-wheel drive system, chiefly to keep CO2 emissions down.
The off-road makeover gives the A3 a a lot more robust look, but it’ll remain quite a compact automobile at 4.3 metres long. That’s about 200mm shorter than a Q3, but 110mm longer than a Q2.