Audi goes cold on A3 diesel

Audi Australia will drop the 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine and only offer the 1.6-litre TDI as a special-order model within the facelifted A3 model range to be released here in the fourth quarter of this year.

When it arrives, the upgraded 2017 A3 and S3 hatchback, sedan and cabriolet line-up will bring a reworked engine range, technology upgrades and exterior styling changes.

Speaking at the international launch of the updated range in Munich, Germany, Audi Australia General Manager of Corporate Communications, Anna Burgdorf, said the 2.0-litre TDI will no longer be available for A3 cars sold in Australia.

“We’ve effectively made the decision not to bring diesel engines, however, you can special order the 1.6 TDI,” she said, pointing to a low take-up of diesel powerplants in the range, in which oil-burning engines accounted for just five per cent of all A3 sales last year.

As its parent company Volkswagen Group continues to grapple with the fallout from its 'Dieselgate' emissions crisis, Audi is focussing heavily on what it calls its ‘right-sizing’ engine strategy for petrol-powered models, which derive higher performance and better fuel economy from advances in petrol engine technology.

As part of the A3 updates, a new 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine lifted from the larger A4 mid-sizer will replace the current 1.8-litre petrol engine. Matched with Audi’s seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission, it produces 140kW and 320Nm and promises fuel economy of just 5.6L/100km.

The high-tech A3 e-tron remains in the line-up, featuring a plug-in hybrid powertrain incorporating a 1.4-litre TFSI engine with 150kW of power.

While S3 models gain a small power increase of 7kW and 20Nm, the full increase will not translate to Australian cars as they feature Audi’s hot-country engine mapping, which reduces load on the engine at high temperatures.

Also available for the updated A3 but not yet confirmed for Australia is the city-sized 1.0-litre three-cylinder TFSI petrol engine which currently features in the Audi A1.

Offering fuel-efficient performance, the 85kW 1.0-litre powerplant is paired with a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission to deliver fuel economy of just 4.7L/100km. If introduced to the Australian line-up, it will replace the outgoing 1.4-litre entry model as the most affordable A3.

Audi Australia is currently discussing pricing deals and specifications with head office, with the local team hopeful of settling on a transfer price that will make the 1.0-litre A3 model commercially viable here.

If the 1.0-litre engine cannot be secured then the most affordable A3 will become the technically-advanced 1.4-litre TFSI cylinder-on-demand model, pushing the A3's entry price up from $36,500 to $39,100 plus on-road costs.

With 18 per cent of current A3 sales made up of the outgoing 1.4-litre entry model, Audi Australia will no doubt be undertaking some hard negotiating with head office to bring the 1.0-litre model to market sooner rather than later.

As its top-selling car line – with 6200 sales representing 25 per cent of its Australian sales last year -- Audi needs the A3 to carry on its upward sales trajectory, which has seen sales rise 344 per cent since the introduction of the new model in 2013.

Buoyed by the October 2015 introduction of Australia’s Best Driver’s Car contender, the RS 3, the A3 is Australia's leading premium small car by sales so far this year, outselling last year’s segment winner, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, by almost 25 per cent to the end of April.

First Australian deliveries of the updated A3/S3 range will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.