These drawings are the first images of an A3-based saloon concept that Audi is planning to unveil at next week’s Geneva motor show. Sounds rather dull, but for the fact that under the bonnet will be a 402bhp turbocharged five-cylinder motor.
Although the actual bodywork of the car is said to preview a saloon version of the A3, which will become the fourth bodystyle in the A3 range when an all-new third-generation version of the car next year, Audi has dropped in the same engine and four-wheel drivetrain first revealed in the Quattro concept from last year’s Paris show.
So while the prospective introduction of a saloon will be a bonus for those markets (North America, China and Russia, for instance) where saloons are favoured over hatches, there is a little more to this concept than Audi just slinging in a big engine to make a humdrum concept more appealing.
That's because said engine is basically a development of the 2.5-litre five-cylinder motor that serves in both the Audi TT RS and the current RS3, so what we will see in Geneva could well be a teaser for a 400bhp-plus second-gen RS3 that, in small saloon form, could become part of Audi’s hot range in the next few years. Which would be nice…