Audi will bring the A3 saloon here in
2014. It will be the new entry point to the Audi brand.
Rewind a few years, and you’d
see a handful of Mercs, BMWs, and Audis plying the streets. They were reserved
for the ‘sahib’. But India is a country that has developed more in 20 years than in
the 50 preceding it. There’ s a new buyer in town – the ‘young
professional’ – and luxury carmakers are targeting them with their new compact
saloons. With the recent crop of ‘cheaper’ luxury cars such as the CLA, A3 and
the upcoming 1-series saloon, luxury carmakers have decided to go after people
with Toyotas and Hondas.
New
Audi A3 saloon front
In most parts of the world, especially
India, saloons sell much more than their estate versions, which explain why
Audi is counting so much on the A3 saloon being a big seller. In fact, one in
every five Audis sold in the world is an A3 hatchback, and once the A3 saloon
is out, it could even go as far as becoming the carmaker’s largest selling model.
The two cars actually have the same wheelbase, but crucially, the A3 saloon is
150mm longer, 11mm wider, and 9mm lower. The car comes with changes to the
bonnet, bumpers, air intakes, and wheel arches to give it a sleeker and lower
profile.
New
Audi A3 saloon side
The A3 saloon is based on the A3 Sportback
sold in markets abroad, which is built on VW’s variable MQB platform. This is
the same platform that underpins the new VW Golf. Audi will continue to use the
same engines in this car – 138bhp 1.4 TFSI and 178bhp 1.8 TFSI petrol’s, and a
148bhp 2.0 TDI diesel. Now, another car that has us excited is the
range-topping S3 version. The S3 comes with four-wheel drive and a turbocharged
2.0-litre petrol engine that puts out a whopping 296bhp, propelling it to
100kph in a claimed 4.9sec!
A3
saloon’s dashboard is identical to the A3 hatchbacks
When the A3 saloon is launched in India in
2014, it could be the cheapest Audi on sale. Audi needs to price this new car
at a significantly lower point than the A4 for it to sell in decent numbers.
Localization will be the key, more so since the Union Budget hiked the customs
duty on CBUs. Audi already plans to assemble 90 percent of its India portfolio
here by mid-2013 to keep costs down. And the company is also looking to take
advantage of global sourcing of parts to further reduce costs. Audi’s statement
actually sums up the company’s intent, “We’re now entering the world’s biggest
segment – the compact saloon.” Profits earned from Audi are critical to
financing parent company Volkswagen AG’s strategy to overtake General Motors
and Toyota as the world’s biggest automaker by 2018. The downside though, is
that targeting these volume segments may lead to the badges losing their
exclusivity tag. But then again, there’s always safety in volume selling.
However, Merc’s CLA is expected to hit Indian shores around the same time as
the A3 saloon, and it’s going to be a tough battle to win over the ‘young
professional’. Game on.
New
Audi A3 saloon back
