Buying an Audi A3, what's the market like?

[afewbeers]

My elderly folks are replacing 2 cars and have decided on an Audi A3. In another lifetime I used to run a BMW dealership, but these days I'm totally out of touch with the marketplace. I hear that their dealer is suggesting discounts of 20+% which seems pretty brutal but I can't figure out why the used car market hasn't collapsed completely for them but a brief look on Autotrader (I hate that site) indicates late models are still relatively holding up.

So I guess my question is, what's the trend at the moment? Are late models going to come down, is this heavy new car discounting a temporary thing, if so is it worth taking advantage of etc. Or has this been a permanent feature for a while now with Audi? My last purchase was a Porsche Macan last year so discounts weren't a thing:-)

I think their plan was to buy an 18 month old car but I'm not sure how to advise them. Opinions, predictions and explanations welcome:-)

[Rob 131 Sport]

My elderly parents have previously been in a similar predicament going from 2 to 1 car.

As elderly people tend to keep their cars for years I would definitely buy new taking advantage of whatever discounts you can find. It’s always a little tricky these days to fully understand a car’s history and an 18 month old example may well of been a hire car.