The three-door hatchback version of the next Audi A3 will be dropped from the lineup, with the company reportedly planning to add a new five-door liftback model.
Ditching the three-door bodystyle is a result of falling demand and part of Group VW’s cost-cutting strategy in the wake of the Dieselgate emissions scandal, Autocar reports.
By doing so, the successor of the A3 Sportback will be the only true hatchback model in the range when it’ll hit the market in 2019. Starting from 2020, Audi will also introduce the new A3 Saloon which will be slightly bigger for more rear leg room and luggage space.
Audi sources indicate that the company is also working on a third A3 bodystyle in the form of a five-door liftback, which could take over the A3 Sportback nameplate from its aforementioned sibling.
Such a variant could go against models like the confirmed Mercedes A-Class saloon, as well as the successor to the current CLA and CLA Shooting Brake. Even BMW is rumored to bring its China-only 1-Series Saloon into the rest of the world, starting from 2020. Audi officials reportedly want badly a liftback version of the A3, which will be seen as a sportier alternative to the A3 Saloon, in the same way the A5 Sportback is positioned against the A4.
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