Audi A3 Concept - Auto Shows

If compact performance sedans rock your socks, prepare your feet for some wicked sweet riffs. The Geneva auto show will host a four-door sedan concept that hints strongly at the upcoming third-generation Audi A3, which will be the first VW Group car based on the company’s latest modular transverse platform. (It will also underpin the next Golf.)
The Audi A3 concept takes Audi's current styling language a step further, borrowing many design elements from the new A6 and stuffing them into a more compact and vibrant package. The new grille shape, as seen on the A1, A6, and A8, carries over to the new A3. We like the shape of the LED taillights, and the construction and layering of their assemblies are mirrored in the headlights, which are also LED units. The futuristic door handles and side mirrors look great, but they probably won't make it into series production. Dimensionally, the A3 concept is longer (at 174.8 inches versus 168.9), wider (72.4 versus 69.5), and lower (54.7 versus 56.0) than the current A3 hatchback.
If you find the lower front air intakes on the A3 concept a bit menacing, there’s a good reason: Behind the aggressive snout lurks Audi's wonderful 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five, which the company says makes 408 hp here. It sends power to all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic automatic. This is the same engine that powers the Quattro concept; it’s also found in the current TT RS and RS3, but it makes “just” 340 hp in those models.
We hope this engine makes it to the next-gen A3’s powertrain portfolio more quickly than it did the current car’s; the RS3 wasn’t offered until the final year of production. Still, before such a second-generation RS model can come to market, Audi must release a flurry of less exciting—if capable—powerplants. In Europe, there will be a number of four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines, ranging in output from just over 100 hp to 300 hp, the latter number reserved for the S3. Audi will offer six-speed manuals, plus six- and seven-speed dual-clutch automatics. The A3 lineup could also gain hybrid and fully electric versions. Front-wheel drive will be standard, but Quattro all-wheel drive will remain available on the more powerful diesel and gasoline models.
The next A3 will be lighter than the current model, and it will be available with a vast array of nanny systems, including radar-based cruise control, parking assist, and traffic-sign recognition, although, as usual, not all of them will make it to the States.
In Europe, the three-door A3 hatchback will be launched in mid-2012, with the five-door Sportback following in 2013. Shortly thereafter, the four-door sedan previewed by this A3 concept will appear, and it will have its crosshairs trained directly on a new, front-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz sedan that is based on the next A- and B-class and touted as the "compact CLS." An A3 cabriolet could be added later. For the U.S. market, the Sportback and the sedan likely will be the only choices, and we may have to wait until late 2013 for their arrival.