13 Aug 04
Audi likes to claim that it invented the 'premium compact hatchback' market sector when it launched the first A3 back in 1996. We thought BMW got there first with the 2002 Touring, or if that's too obscure, the three- and five-door Saab 900s of the 1980s certainly fitted that bill, but there's no doubting that the A3 range has been a success for the brand. Three-door versions have consistently outsold the BMW 3-Series Compact, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sport Coupe and three-door Alfa 147s, with demand for the latest-generation model, launched nine months ago, stronger than ever. The five-door variants are bigger sellers, however, but with this bodystyle, Audi faces exceedingly stiff competition from the new BMW 1-Series.
Coming out with all guns blazing, Audi is offering a more extensive five-door line-up than that initially offered by BMW, and has opted to call this version the Sportback, citing its coupe-like side profile, sporting driving characteristics and high-performance credentials. It's very different to the three-door A3, goes the thinking, and please, no-one mention the latest three- and five-door Volkswagen Golfs, themselves pleasingly upmarket and aspirational purchases and mechanically exceedingly similar. The Sportback is not quite an A3 Avant, despite its longer rear overhangs - it is 83mm longer than its three-door equivalent - and additional 20 litres of luggage space, but with the (optional) silver-painted or black roof rails, it's half-way there and it definitely looks the part as a high-image small family hatch. Although we've not seen the upcoming Mk 5 Golf estate yet, that model is expected to be more utility-oriented and neither quite so sleek nor so aggressive. For a start, the Golf station wagon won't have a front grille like this: the rather in-yer-face mouth first seen on the Nuvolari coupe concept, then the latest A6. Chrome-edged and black-centred, this is sharply angled from between the slanted double-optic headlamps to the base of the deep front air dam. Critics reckon it looks a bit like a goatee beard - but there's no doubting its impact. Especially with the prominently-mounted four interlinked silver rings.
