Global sales of Audi’s Q3 compact crossover last year totaled 145,000 vehicles, recording an impressive 60 percent increase compared to 2012. And despite the mid-life cycle facelift due early next year, in the first 10 months of 2014 they rose by 30 percent.
What’s more, analysts expect the rise to continue: “We are forecasting that the Q3 will grow by 40,000 units globally this year, due almost entirely to higher production in China”, director of global light vehicle production at IHS Automotive Mark Fulthorpe told Autonews.
“That would mean it would overtake BMW’s X1, where output is set to drop by about 20,000 this year as demand falls in Europe and the model heads towards the end of its life cycle”, he noted.
The revamped Q3 has already been unveiled and will go on sale next February in Europe. Even though the looks remain largely the same and buyers can still choose from three TFSI petrol and three TDI diesel units, those have been thoroughly updated to meet the strict EU6 emission regulations.
For the first time, the 1.4-liter TFSI comes with “displacement on demand”, which means that it cuts off two cylinders under light load to reduce CO2 emissions by 7 percent, from 137 to 127 g/km.
Michael Zeilinger, the Q3’s head of technical project management, said that the engines were reworked to reduce emissions by an average of 17 percent.
Audi targets the compact crossover to young couples and what it terms “best-agers”, i.e. customers over 50 years old, who welcome the easier entry and exit offered by the Q3’s elevated seating position.
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