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New Audi A3 debuts with tax-busting 99g/km engine

NEW Audi A3 debuts at Geneva with ultra-efficient diesel engine for lowest diesel company car tax band
THIRD generation and more upmarket A3 goes on sale in September with a £19,000 price tag.
By Ralph Morton
186_new_Audi_A3Front
Brand-new Audi A3 features sharper styling, lightweight technology, more efficient engines and a more upmarket and sophisticated interior

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6 March 2012

New third-generation Audi A3 launches at the Geneva Motor Show featuring a tax-busting diesel engine with 99g/km CO2 emissions and a company car tax band of 13%
Brand-new Audi A3 features sharper styling, lightweight technology, more efficient engines and a more upmarket and sophisticated interior

Author: Ralph Morton

THIS is the all-new Audi A3 hatchback. It’s the three-door version that we’ll see first in the UK priced from £19,000.

If you’re a business car manager, you can order the new Audi A3 from spring with first deliveries to business drivers in September.

The headline company car news for the new Audi A3 is a 1.6 TDI diesel engine that will deliver 74.3mpg potential and CO2 emissions of just 99g/km.

Looking at our company car tax calculator, that will mean a benefit in kind company car band of just 13% for company car drivers. A word of warning, though – you will have to wait towards the end of 2012 to take advantage of this ultra efficient engine.

At launch there will be the following engines:

  • 122PS 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine with 200 Nm of torque. 0 to 62mph is 9.3 seconds and economy 54.3mpg. CO2 emissions are 120g/km, representing a company car tax band of 15%.
  • 180PS 1.8-litre TFSI petrol engine with 250 Nm of torque.  0 to 62mph takes 7.2 seconds and economy 50.4mpg. CO2 emissions are 130g/km, representing a company car tax band of 17%.
  • 143PS 2.0 TDI diesel engine with 320 Nm of torque. 0 to 62mph is 8.6 seconds and economy 68.9mpg. CO2 emissions are 106g/km, representing a company car tax band of 15%.

Overall, CO2 emissions are down 12% on the new Audi A3, thanks partly to those more efficient engines we’ve just detailed but also thanks to ‘Audi ultra’ lightweight technology.

Rear view of the new Audi A3 third generation model
Three-door model range features alloy wheels as standard; launch prices start at £19,000

The new Audi A3 is an impressive 80kg lighter than the outgoing A3, thanks to aluminium front wings and bonnet.

The new Audi A3 might be lighter, but it’s virtually identical to its predecessor in length and height at 4,237mm and 1,421mm respectively, but  features a longer 2,601mm wheelbase, which suggests ride will be improved and the interior more accommodating for passengers.It is also slightly wider at 1,777mm.

While the new car looks recognisably an A3, the new model features a single-frame radiator grille plus xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lamps, the latest versions featuring a new ‘clasp-like’ solid band which surrounds more of the lens. These will also be optional for other models, and wherever they are fitted the tail lights will also be equipped with LEDs. Audi says it plans to introduce full LED headlight technology across the range.

Inside the new A3 features a step up in class in terms of quality and design, says Audi, with better materials and ergonomics than has been seen in the class before.

Interior of the new Audi A3 features redesigned instrument cluster and ultra thin MMI display
Higher quality feel for new A3 interior, including ultra thin MMI retractable colour screen

Features include redesigned instrument cluster, the optional 3D colour display for the Driver’s Information System and ultra-thin electrically retractable MMI monitor. A new optional A3-specific Bang & Olufsen audio system, MMI navigation plus and mobile phone preparation with online services for ‘real time’ online traffic information and, internet connectivity are other new features.

Further engine options and quattro four-wheel drive technology will be available later in 2012 to business car drivers.

This latest Audi A3, which debuts at the Geneva Motor Show, is the third generation A3. The first generation A3 debuted in 1996 as a three-door model, and in 1999 it was joined by a five-door version.

The second generation followed in 2003, and featured an expanded range with the five-door Sportback (2004), S3 (2006),  Cabriolet (2008) and the RS3 (2011).

Side view of the new Audi A3 third generation model launched at the Geneva Show 2012
The new Audi A3 offers 365 litres boot capacity but this can be extended to 1,100 litres when the split rear seatbacks are folded. The load floor can be set at two different levels - either for maximum volume or alternatively as a level cargo floor

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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